


Hawk Meets Markiplier

by Intergalactic_Author



Series: ISF Origins: Markiplier [1]
Category: markiplier - Fandom
Genre: Darkiplier - Freeform, Gen, Markiplier - Freeform, Original Character(s), POV Original Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-17
Updated: 2015-02-17
Packaged: 2018-03-13 09:18:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 23,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3376148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Intergalactic_Author/pseuds/Intergalactic_Author
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is part 1 of ISF Origins: Markiplier<br/>Hawk has worked in the ISF for several years and has seen too much in this universe but this... this human, Markiplier, she never saw coming. The Intergalactic Space Force gains ground on their quest but Hawk chooses to involve this person in her life, changing his forever. This fateful meeting sparks more than either ever bargained for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Visual Log Entry Part 1

**Visual Log 201.4625**

**Agent:** Hawk

 **Setting:** HQ, space and LA, Earth

 

            I was torn from the black abyss of the same dream I’ve been having for the last few months by a blaring distress signal that lit up my room and triggered all the other lights to turn on. I slowly sat up and breathed in as much as I could without my chest hurting then let it out. I slowly opened my eyes and saw the light flashing on the bridge of the digital map of HQ on my wall.

            I flicked my fingers in its direction and the sound shut off. I put my hand on my face and waited. The dimmed flashing made it more bearable to open my eyes more.

            I sighed and remembered that I was in space, Head Quarters for the ISF to be exact, where ever it’s floating around at the moment. I am Chief and I’m a super powerful wolf-hybrid humanoid with too many powers but can control them all. I have an awesomely powerful gun I don’t really need and its one of many that I’ve customized. I guess I just feel like my life has gone downhill drastically in the last two years of being fully Activated. But that’s probably from the thing on my chest making it difficult for me to function normally. 

            I moved my fingertips over the black mass growing in between my breasts and pulled them away.

            I can’t even heal it. My healing powers won’t work on it.

            I breathed in again and shook my head. I moved to the edge of my bed and stood up. I waved my hand and morphed into my uniform. Dark blue pants tucked into my shin high combat boots and held onto my waist with a light blue belt. My low cut black top hasn’t been low cut since that thing on my chest formed. It’s practically a long sleeve winter shirt now. I picked up my ISF vest and managed to put it on. I turned to the mirror and made sure all the pins were lined up and I looked official. I always leave the top strap undone because they don’t design these things for busty agents.

I turned to see my right arm. I smiled and ran my left hand over my Elemental Tattoo. There was a leaf on my shoulder and a vein of blue and a vein of green weaved in and out of my skin all the way down my arm. There were two circle tattoos on top and below my elbow so the power doesn’t mess with the joint. The veins went down to the second leaf on my hand, which is under my glove. The veins are tattoo lines but transfer power from one leaf to the other. The green is for the Life element and the blue on is for energy. The tattoo is a sign of complete Elemental training and is always visible. The Elementals don’t have these tattoos. If they did, they’d be tattooed all over their skin in their humanoid forms.

            I straightened up and ran my fingers through my long light brown hair and put it up with a red hair ribbon. I tucked the ends of the ribbon into the tie itself and tugged on my hair so it would stay in place.

I looked at the blinking bridge on my wall and tapped it. It stopped blinking but turned red. I nodded, knowing what I needed to do now, and turned to my wall lined with a few artillery items. All of them I have adapted to my needs. Two narrow katana looking swords stood on their stands that stuck out from the wall. It’s designed for easy portal access for me for when I need them so I don’t have to carry them around all the time. They reminded me of a less complicated time when all I had to do was follow a few orders and wipe out an army. Each battle made me stronger and each sword, in turn, stronger. The intricate designs on both established how far I’ve come since the beginning.  

            I looked over what I had currently up and picked a newly modified ray gun and held it out from me. All the levels were normal, meaning the cores were still stable. The power gauges showed that both power cores were at half power.

            “Gotta remember to replace the cores when I get back…” I mumbled as I put the strap around me. The vest was puffy enough that the strap didn’t hurt my chest. _They’ll find out one day, you know._ I sighed and whispered, “I know. But the later they do the better. Can you please be quiet, Inner Demon?”  

            He laughed and kept quiet. He’s what’s left over from something that consumed my life for almost a decade. He knows everything about me and butts in when not needed. Lately he’s been keeping an eye on that thing on my chest, which is something I’m grateful for.

            I turned to leave my room and the door slid open with that Star Trek door sound effect I installed because silence was boring. It shut behind me with the same sound and I walked down the hall. I passed the other earthborn agent’s rooms and crossed the doorway to the breakfast nook. My assistant handed me a cup of coffee as I walked by. I nodded and walked away with it. It smelled amazing and I drank it slowly. I can wake up on my own and be fine without anything but just the smell reminded me of my time on Earth.

            I walked to the elevator and put my hand on the scanner then tapped the bridge that came up on screen. I stepped back and waited for the elevator. At least no one has objected to the Tardis paint design on these exterior doors. I heard it speed through HQ and I moved out of the way when the clamps locked it in place and the blue doors opened.

            I straightened up as the General stepped out.

            He nodded at me, “Morning, Hawk.”

            “Good morning, General.” I responded as I stepped into the elevator. “Get some sleep.” he waved back at me as he walked away. He was on patrol for three days and must have just gotten back.

            The elevator interior matched the rest of HQ’s white light design. It took me straight to the bridge and opened its doors to a seemingly chaotic room.

            “Hawk! Finally!” Scotty shouted from the front when he looked at me. The room stopped almost immediately. The redhead looked up from his screens and radars of information and looked at me. Our ongoing joke never gets old. I don’t even remember his real name at this point.

            “Hawk!” I turned to see Kekelle yelling at me from her spot. Her elongated lizard-like face darted from screen to screen. She pointed at one with her claw, “Someone’s breached security!” She waved her hand across the screen to the main screen and the image went to the front for us all to see.

            Through the security camera we watched a ship fly right passed us and in the direction of the Milky Way.

            “What is their projected target?” I looked at Draikl, our mathmetition. His long, tied back, dark blue hair stuck out to the rest of the primarily white room. He looked human but his skin was tinted blue with dark marks across his skin.

            He spun in his chair from one keyboard to another and looked at the screen, flinging it onto the big one. “Looks like planet Earth. ETA three earth hours but possibly sooner based on its currently increasing speed.”

            I glared at the screen. “Where the hell is security?” my voice rang across the Bridge in anger.

            “I’ll deal with that,” Lieutenant Linalool said to me. She stood up straight, letting her tail rest on the ground. “You go. I know you want to.”

            “Thanks Lieutenant.” I smiled and handed her my coffee. She didn’t know what to do with it and awkwardly held it away from her and glanced at it, giving it a weird look. She was almost too fitting for her position here.  

            I walked across the bridge as they watched me. “What?”

            “Orders, Chief.” Scotty answered.

            “I’ll go on a solo mission. It was a small ship and I can take care of this.” I turned to the Lieutenant. “I’ll need you all too…” I paused as the Captain of the Guard stepped into the room. “Be ready to go if it gets worse.”

            “Yes, Chief.” They said in unison.

            This is why I love my job.


	2. Visual Log Entry Part 2

I left the bridge and went right to the docking bay. I left my Starcraft in Bay 45. I finally named my ship by the way. I’ve been using it for three years already, so might as well.

            As I got to Bay 45, Katey greeted me with a salute. “Good luck, Chief.” Her hair had once again been cut short but remained its black and red colors with some hidden teal highlights. Our uniform lets her wear her black beanie. The Air Element mark on her forehead has gained some intricate designs since I last saw her. It looked like it was fading, though. It’s most likely moving to her shoulder, which is great because then she’ll be at my level of skill.

            “You can call me Hawk, Katey,” I commented as I saluted her back. “We’ve been friends since our human days. It’s alright.”

            She turned to the side and waited for her companion to get to us. I noticed the bottom strap to her vest was a bit looser. Her companion walked up to us. his black hair and outfit matched hers.

            Icaugi saluted me as well, and I returned the gesture. “All ready to go, Chief.”

            “Thanks,” I said as I moved passed them.

            “Are you going to be okay, Hawk?” Icaugi asked.

            “Yes, I’ll be fine.” I responded.

            “It’s targeting LA,” Katey said as she looked up from her AlienTechGen3, or ATG3, tablet. Her dark eyes pierced into mine. I’m sure she knows something is wrong.

            “I’ve gotta go now,” I said as I went over to Starcraft. The top glass door slid back and I settled my gun into his holding arm next to my seat. I jumped in and strapped myself in then sealed the door. They opened the docking bay doors and I activated Starcraft. Everything lit up and readings were normal on the screens displaying data in a panoramic projection below the base of the front window. I grabbed into the pod racer steering and pulled back, waiting for a response. When Starcraft moved up I pushed them forward and out into space.

The doors to the Docking Bay closed behind me and I activated the shields. These shields protected me from flying space debris and all sorts of unhealthy light. I put in the coordinates for LA into the GPS and it pointed me in the right direction with a small blue arrow on a circle hologram projected out from the GPS.

            I grabbed the red handle on my right, pulled it out and felt the engine shift to warp drive. When the engine hummed loudly, I turned the handle 90 degrees and pushed it back in. I leaned back just in time for the engine to activate. Stars streaked passed me, along with gas clouds and clusters of space debris.

            I braced myself as the ship broke from warp drive and I put my hands back on the steering. I tested it again and it was fine. I had to check for one more function...

            “Jarvis, are you still there?” I called out as I relaxed into my seat. I may eventually rename him, but I think it fits. I got the idea from Tony Stark’s Jarvis system from Iron Man, an earth comic made by Stan Lee’s genius. He’s got a ton of stuff under his name. Anyway, as a techno path, having Jarvis helps me out with similar stuff he does in Iron Man. It makes it easier for me to deal with the little things.

            “Yes, Ma’am,” He responded with his robotic, nearly natural voice. I’ll work on that at some point. He is programmed to be in every ship that I’m in. he follows me around in a way, activating in the hubs that I’ve placed around my most visited places such as the Bridge, the breakfast nook by my room, my room, the medical bay, the docking bay, a few different ships have permanent hubs, and there’s always one in my vest.

            I looked out the front window at the Milky Way. It was hypnotizing, it really was. “I need you to locate that ship that’s heading to earth.” A few moments of silence passed and I moved through the Local Interstellar Cloud. Two lines of energy crossed a screen that popped up as I sped through to the Orion-Cygnus Arm. On the screen showed Earth and a few Astronomical Units out from the planet. The horizontal line and vertical line moved across the screen and met over the ship and formed a circle. “Zoom in,” I said and watched the circle widen along with the visual until it fit the screen.

            I pushed the steering forward and moved even faster to the solar system. At least I was coming in at an angle and could see the inner planets already. I looked out at the black void and located swift movement. I focused on it and saw that it wasn’t moving for some random reason.

            “It’s got a reason to be here.”

            “Are you sure?” He asked as he cleared the screen and mapped our short path to where it would most likely go.  

            “Yes. I’m positive,” I pushed the pod racer handles forward, nearly hitting the dashboard. “Without a target they could be going anywhere.” I sped towards the planet and flicked the two switches for shields and cloaking. “It’s too specific to be anything else.”

            “I’ve pinpointed where it’s going to land…” he pulled up a small screen of it flying through the atmosphere then moved towards a few apartment buildings.

            “Can you pinpoint exactly where they are going to land?”

            “No,” he answered, putting down the visual. “They’re straying from the projected path.”

            “Alright, thanks. I’ll deal with it.” I said as we jolted into Earth’s atmosphere, air friction hitting the shields immediately.  I held the ship steady and focused on the target.

            “Hawk!” A voice shouted into Starcraft.

            “Who is this?” I answered, focusing on where to go. I finally landed a visual on the invader, a black ship heading straight for some buildings. Sounds like Draikl. Shouldn’t Kekelle be telling me this? 

            “Whoever is on that ship, we can’t figure out who they are…” His response was broken by static. “…they’re jamming the signals from their ship.”

            This could get really bad if I don’t get there in time. I pulled back to slow down enough when I could see all of LA, the expanse of the Pacific on my left and the continent in the rest of my view. I glanced at the gray light that flashed three times then stayed on. The MIB know I’m here. It’s their job to relay some cover-up to the Earth officials. 

I slowed enough so that I could open the top and stand up. I put Jarvis in charge and put my foot on one of the handles. I guided the ship to an interception point.

            “They’re a level six enemy!” That was the last of what I heard before the signal broke entirely. I knew I could leave my gun here though. I jumped up and unfurled my wings. They slid through the specially designed slits in the back of my vest and caught the air. I hovered in my spot, quickly got used to the gravity change and looked around. I saw that the other ship was flying away as well as mine.

            “What are you up to?” I whispered as I watched someone else fall from the sky. My eyes focused on the form and they didn’t look too intimidating. The form crashed into the roof of a large apartment building. I watched it look up at me and smile.

            It laughed as it multiplied into three of them. One of them kept my gaze and the other two fell onto all fours and crawled across the roof and over the side. They clung to the side of the building as they wiggled down.  

            They were hunting for something. One moved away from the other and walked on the wall, careful to avoid being seen and avoided the windows.           

            I watched the first one on the roof and landed on the edge. “What do you want!?”I yelled in a few different languages, getting ready for an attack. It reacted to English, surprisingly. The building shook as I heard an explosion.  

            It only laughed again and went to the side of the roof and looked down. I saw it smile then look at me. “We got what we came for!” It shouted before jumping.  

            I crouched on the edge where I was standing. I jumped over the edge and watched as the hole in the wall was invaded by these three black, level-six aliens. I landed on the wall and held my place, holding onto the wall.

            Only when a human life is in danger can I intervene. I remember when I would jump in at this point. Guns out and everything, I was just an unfurled ball of rage to whatever was attacking.  

            A moment later there was screaming, male screaming, and growling and thrashing and things crashing and breaking. I threw myself into the room and stood in their way of leaving. I poised myself defensively. I opened two small portals, let my two sword hilts emerge from their hiding spot and slowly reached for them.

            I glanced around and saw that this two story apartment had been totally ransacked until they caught the one they were after. He was thrown over the shoulder of one of them. He didn’t look dead.  This one stood tall and looked at me with its reptilian eyes. Its tail moved slowly behind him. The other two stopped but stayed close to the ground.

            “Where do you think you are going?” I asked as I slowly pulled out my swords and crossed them in front of me. I just needed to strike one and it would be over.

            “We got what we came for and now we are leaving.” He replied, tossing the human on his shoulder, causing him to scream in fear when he landed back down.  

            “Why do you need him, of all people?” I asked and straightened up as I slid the blades over each other, making the aliens cringe from the sharp noise. I don’t want to attack unless I need to, “He’s not affiliated with us at all.” I added as I looked at the defenseless black haired man as he didn’t fight being flung over the guys shoulder. He was wearing a shirt and basketball shorts and had headphones dangling from his hand, the wire leading back to the room they came from.

            “Well that’s good.” One of the other two spoke up. He stood up before continuing, “Because he’ll be affiliated with our boss when we’re done with him.”  

             “I guess you have to get past me first.” I growled as the tips crossed each other and let go of an energy charge that was aimed towards the one who spoke. He flew backwards and hit the wall but got up angrily before disappearing. I ran towards the second one with one of my swords and drove it through his stomach. As he stood there he didn’t fight, but melted away.

            “Great…” The one carrying the human mumbled as I turned to him.

            My blade had turned black. “Whatever you throw at me now will be absorbed by my sword.” It was a new power-up but I didn’t want to use anything else if I didn’t have to.

            He looked off to the side and nodded. Without a word he dropped the human and jumped by me. I landed a strike with my other sword but he didn’t strike back. He jumped out of the hole in the wall, looked back at me and said, “You haven’t seen the last of me!”

I watched them disappear and was quiet. I put my swords away and stared out at LA.


	3. Visual Log Entry Part 3

I sighed heavily. Small portals are great. I turned back to the human as he sat up. “You have no significance to the higher up people on this planet, so why do they want you?”

            He looked at me in silence and confusion while he held his head. He straightened up his glasses and looked at me. As we looked at each other I slowly felt more and more of his emotions flood into my senses. _I thought you locked that away._ I did.

            After a few moments I walked over to him, squatted behind him as he watched me and put my hand on his head. My hand glowed white, enabling me to see his past, present and future. Just the basics, though, it’s not my strength and main ability. I pulled my hand away quickly and helped him up. _That’s a lot to take in at once._ I watched him stand up and he stumbled backwards onto his couch and sat there.  

            “Well, Mark,” I started, as I sat down in the seat across from the couch. “Do you mind answering a few questions?”

            He didn’t respond but looked at me. He pulled a pillow onto his lap and wrapped his arms around it.

            “Did they say anything to you?” I asked, pulling out my phone. I unfolded it and put it on the table. The screen was dark but it was recording the scene.

            “I was just recording and…” he finally spoke and stared blankly at the ground, “the wall exploded and they came in.” he stopped again. I waved my hand to the kitchen and watched the tea kettle make tea on its own. The cup floated from the cabinet and landed on the counter. He sat in silent fear as I focused on the kitchen.

            He held out his hands for the cup that floated to him. He only held it and watched me.

I lowered my hand to my other hand and used his memories to make something.

            My hands swirled around each other until they created an orb of different colors. The orb spun faster and I kept my hands still. It formed what I wanted it to form and then the light it generated died down. I held a small box plushie in my hands.

            He looked at it in surprise, “You know who that is?”

            “Tiny Box Tim,” I answered. I looked at it then tossed it to him.

            It landed close to him but he still jumped. He clutched his tea and curled into the corner of the couch. He looked at the small plushie box and then at me.

            “Keep him close.” I said to Mark then looked at it.

            He reluctantly picked it up and held it in his hand. “It’s just a plushie.”

            “Anything I create is never just a thing to have.” I said, waving my arm at the wall. It quickly pieced itself back together. The cracks glowed and sealed shut. “Now that that’s all fixed, I should start explaining, since you won’t speak.”

             He cuddled the small plushie and looked at me. “They told me to join them. They didn’t even ask.” he sat up and gestured to the office, repeating himself, “I’m just in there recording and they blow a hole in my wall…” I heard it all overwhelm him. It was in his voice. He was choking up but managed to speak. He sniffled and pulled his legs into his chest. “One yanked me out of my seat, the other started yelling at me in different languages and I don’t think half of those were human! The other threw me over his shoulder and thank God you showed up…” He yelled at me and broke down in front of me. “I’ve never been so scared in my life and I still don’t know who you are.” 

            I felt a sadness grow inside of me, a human emotion I haven’t felt in a few years. I stood up and went over to him behind the couch. “It’ll be alright.” I said and put my hands on the side of his face and turned his face up to look at me. I put my right thumb on his forehead and moved my left hand over his chest. Both thumbs lit up and I blinked. My eyes turned all white and locked onto his.

            The room disappeared as I flooded memories of my own into his mind. Just a few, one from training, a few battles, many power upgrades and my full activation promotion into the ISF. The memories turned to what he saw.

            I saw what he described and heard the leader say, “Join us or die.” He didn’t respond so they pulled him out of his chair. He sat on the ground and didn’t know if he should move. “We can’t kill him. She wants him alive. She needs him alive.” “I know, but why are we giving him the option anyway? We are just going to take him either way.” The second pulled him to his feet and the first one threw him over his shoulders. The third one looked Mark in the eyes when he looked up. “He’ll make a good…” “Why is she here?” The three turned to look at me as I stood in the hole in the wall, observing. “So much for this,” the one carrying Mark mumbled.

            The memory faded away and I looked into Mark’s honey brown eyes. I looked back and stayed silent.

            “Any ideas?” He asked. I think he’s getting it.  

            “‘Her’… It’s always a female.” I said thoughtfully. I moved over to the table and picked up my phone and tapped a few things. Kekelle answered the call and watched me. “The level six aliens that attacked LA work for the same female we’ve heard of from other ones that we’ve caught.”

            “Is the human safe?”  

            “Of course he’s safe. They wanted to take him. Their boss wants him.” I turned away from Mark. My wings shifted behind me until they were comfortable.  

            “We protect him if it’s the same female.” She confirmed my already decided tactic.

            “We protect him regardless. If they return he needs to be protected.” I responded and glanced back at him. “I’ll take care of it.”

            “Do we need to prep the lab?” I heard from the back of the room.

            “Yes, just in case.” I answered her, considering what that opened up. I looked at the rest of the open area, “I’ll see you when we get back. Make sure Starcraft gets back.”

            “Are you going to use a portal?”

            “Yeah, it’s a lot faster.” I replied then closed my phone and put it away.

            “Are… Are we going somewhere?” He asked as I walked over to the clear floor space in the room.

            “Not quite yet.” I answered as I pulled a small metal plate from a pocked on the inside of my vest threw it to the ground. It activated and unfolded three times then locked itself to the floor. I pulled out a small rod from another pocket and knelt down to put it in the center of the plate. I held out my arm and my skin lifted up from my forearm. It revealed a storage compartment built into my not so human arm. I pulled out a dark blue gem and held it over the top of the rod. The top opened up so the beam could catch the gem. The beam pulled it in and locked it away. Moments later the interior of the plate glowed blue and the light shined through the small spaces made by the exterior pieces. A key pad opened up and I typed in the activation code and stepped back. A dome of blue expanded from the rod and reached out passed the ceiling and a green light turned on. The rod lowered itself into the plate and stopped moving.

            “That is a barrier generator. It will keep out non-humans, except me. It’s guaranteed for life and I will have to move it personally if and when you move to another apartment or house,” I explained as I went back over to him.

            “So now there’s an obnoxious metal plate in the floor of my apartment?”

            “Yes,” I answered. “Do you want to leave in that?”

            He looked at his shirt and basketball shorts and looked at the office. “I have to at least save what I had going in there.” He got up and walked to the office, dropping off the cup in the kitchen. “How did you know that I like tea?”

            I watched him sit down in his chair and I went to stand next to him, careful not to touch the table. My techno path powers would course through everything and probably fry it all, “When your vision turned white, I saw mostly everything, mainly your likes and dislikes.” I paused, “Attributable qualities that could benefit us and anything that those guys could have been after.”

            He clicked on a few things and typed away.

            I watched him and then looked around at the set up. “Primitive technology amuses me.” I commented with a half smile. Yeah, this would definitely all fry.

            He saved what he was working on and shut it down. “Is that a compliment?”

            “Not really, but where we are going, the next century of human technology would be out of date.” I gestured to his expensive equipment he used every day.

            He got up and followed me, “How much did that phone thing cost?”

            I took it out and let it float in a circle in my hand, “I built this several years ago. I’ve only had to upgrade it a few times.”

            “Oh…” he responded. “That’s cool.”

            I looked at a space in the room and breathed. A portal to the docking bay opened up. I put my arm around Mark, picked him up, “Try not to throw up.” I warned.

            He breathed in and whispered, “Are we going into space?”

            “Yes,” I answered, felt an intense wave of excitement from him, took a breath and walked through the portal.


	4. Visual Log Entry Part 4

The warped space rippled around my skin and I felt his stomach get uneasy. I don’t think he cared though. The glimpses he could see through the portal ripples were too exciting.

            I stepped down on the other side. Katey and Icaugi were waiting for me. They are two of my closest friends here, especially Katey. They both wear the ISF uniform vest and pants. Katey’s black shirt seemed a bit tighter than usual. Icaugi, like most other well toned agents, did not actually wear a shirt. Katey is like me and Icaugi is… not…? I never actually found out now that I think about it. They both have short dark hair. Katey has dark red highlights in her shoulder length hair. Katey has green eyes and Icaugi’s are dark blue.

Starcraft was already sitting in its spot. I put Mark down but didn’t let go of his waist.

            He stood up and threw his arm around me as he wobbled. He was already smiling and watched his legs try to get used to the different gravity.

            “Earth legs,” Katey laughed. “I don’t miss those at all.”

            “Yeah, it was weird for me too, but he should get to Zorka.” I instructed and walked forward, guiding him as he got used to the low and artificial gravity. He looked at Katey as we walked to her.

            “She’s ready for you,” Katey reported as she glanced down at her ATG 3 tablet and led the way. Icaugi walked behind us. I saw that he rested his hand on the gun that was strapped to his hip.

            We walked in silence because I knew Mark was just going to flip out at everything as we walked down the hall.

            I was right.

We passed the observation deck and he froze. He stared out at space as two agents guided a large cargo ship into the cargo bay with large light beams. I sighed and went over to him, grabbed his shoulders, spun him around picked him up before he could protest. But this time I held him like a child and carried him easily, half of his torso was above my shoulder line. I tucked one arm under him to support him as we walked and the other around his hips held him to me. He squeezed my waist with his thighs to keep himself from hurting his crotch. He put his arms on my shoulders and watched everything as we walked.

            As we walked he just wanted to look at everything, even the lights that floated just below the ceiling. He jerked around a lot. Don’t get me wrong, it’s easy for me to carry a full grown man, but not when they start moving and shifting like he’s doing right now.

            “At least he didn’t throw up in the portal,” Icaugi said from the back, keeping back laughter from watching the human crane his neck to see everything.

            “Yeah, that’s true.” I commented, shifting my grip as he moved. I know it’s weird to hold onto a man like this, but if not, he’d be acting like a five year old in a candy shop, only this was space. And it’s dangerous to let him act like that.

            “How could I throw up? This is too awesome! I mean… This is SPACE!” He said, throwing his arms up into the air, hit a light with his finger tips and then sighed and semi relaxed onto me. He held onto my shoulders to watch what was happening behind us.

            A light started flashing and the doors shut beside us on another docking bay, separating us from the observation deck.

            “Must have problems with that airlock again,” I commented when I looked through the window to watch as we kept walking

            “If we had some decent engineers, things would get done right the first time.” Katey said from the front and led us down another hallway.

            I smiled and looked at Mark as he jumped once again in my arms and pointed up, “I’m an engineer!”

            “You are a biomechanical engineer and more importantly a YouTuber. Calm down.” I said half laughing at his excitement. “But, I guess if you can operate an ion torch it could work.” This human was bringing emotions back into my emotionless lifestyle I’d grown used to. Well, at least the happy emotions that I haven’t felt for a long time. And this was me feeling emotions, not emotions leaking from my human side.   

            He spoke again and interrupted my thoughts. “I still have an engineering degree. I went to college for that damn thing.” He protested and was soon distracted by space again while we passed the windows on this hallway. The view we passed wasn’t the best one on HQ but he didn’t know that. I just knew his face lit up.

            Are we almost there yet?

            “Almost there Hawk!” Katey laughed.

            “Your telepathy is stronger!” I smiled.

            “Yours too,” She answered, turning to the medical bay.

            “Which lab will he be in?”

            Before she could answer, Mark jumped again, “Lab? What lab?” Katey had left with Icaugi to get Zorka.

            “Well if you paid attention instead of looking at everything…” I answered sarcastically. Wow, sarcasm. I’m speaking with sarcasm. It’s been a while.

            He pouted and stared behind us.

            I turned to put him down in a holding cell. I leaned on the doorway as he stumbled a bit. He stood up and looked at me.

            “Why am I in a lab?”

            “This is a holding cell.” I answered. “Please notice full access to plumbing, a nice bed and a TV. The link should be up so you can get Earth TV or movies or whatever.”

            “Can I watch Alien?”

            “You’ve been watching aliens.” I answered with too much sarcasm. “Yes, we have that. Just type in the title on the screen and there you go.”

            “What about food?”

            “Open the fridge and cabinet.” I answered. He did so and located the box of his favorite snack. “We don’t keep those handy so eat sparingly.” I said as he ripped open the box.

            He tore open the plastic bag inside and ate a few of them, “Kinda forgot how much I loved these.” He said after a few moments of crunching.

            “I’ll be back in a while. We have to set things up.” I said, leaving him in the room and shutting the door. I put my hand on the door and through the orange glow I saw that he sat down on the bed, ran his hand over it and pressed his hand into it. He lay down, sank into the comfort of the space bed and passed out.

            “Guess he isn’t watching the movie,” Zorka said from beside me. Katey and Icaugi must’ve returned to their post. Zorka’s theme was pink. Pink hair, pink eyes, pale orange skin like the other two Destrehan agents here: Malchior and Kenorfka. She still wore her pale pink shirt under her green medical vest. She was wearing the green medical uniform pants though.  

            I removed my hand and sighed. “I guess not,” I answered, stretching out my shoulders. “Even in less gravity, I’m not used to carrying a two hundred plus pound man.

            “You didn’t have to carry him because of the gravity.”

            “I carried him because we would be chasing him through some docking bay right now if he had been on his own.” I replied. She led me to the lab and I looked at the table.

            “Are we just making him an agent?” She asked.

            “Dormant, but yes,” I replied and quieted my voice, “We have to.”

            “If She Who Must Not Be Named is coming after him he needs a bit of training don’t you think?”

            “Just the basics, if we have time.” I answered. “His significance to Earth is too strong to fully induct him now.” 

            “Does he want this?”

            “I’m giving him the option later in his life or when we need him to be an active agent to actually keep his powers.” I replied, “But right now, it’s obvious he likes it here.”

            “Yeah, but isn’t this…” Zorka started.

            “I keep humans safe. That’s my job. If he’s in danger and I can’t always be there, then yes, I’m giving him an upper hand to this fight.” I interrupted her sternly. I breathed to calm down and continued as I looked at the display, “I can’t lose another one.” 

            Zorka quickly responded, “I shouldn’t be questioning your judgment, Chief.”

            “It’s alright. It’s a sub-directive to everyone…” I trailed off and sat down in her chair by her desk. “After he left…” I thought of the betrayal I had felt nearly three years ago.

            The scar on my chest pulsed and pained me. I didn’t move to do anything about it.

            What if his genetic code breaks down and I can’t help him? What if he… no... I need to move on. My mind will start unraveling if this keeps up.

            “Your mind is fine, you just need a second opinion on decisions every once in a while.” She put her hand on my shoulder. Her pale orange skin stuck out against mine.  “I don’t even want to know what Katey would do if Icaugi left her.”

            I smiled. “They’ll always have each other.” My smile faded and I looked at the screen that watched the holding cell. “The barrier will protect him and his powers will activate if he’s ever threatened by non-humans.”

            She pushed the table into the wall and rotated it out with another, softer one. “He doesn’t need a metal table.”

            “He doesn’t need a table at all but we can watch his vitals from that.” I said knowing that this kind of genetic change can happen anywhere. It didn’t need to be specific. “It’s not even an experiment. We know this works on humans.”

            “But we don’t know how compatible he will be with the Change,” she explained. “We’ve never done a Change then directly into a Dormant state. And there’s always been a free will choice involved.”

            She stopped when someone stood in the doorway. “Lieutenant Linalool,” She saluted.

            The Lieutenant has been doing this job a hell of a lot longer than I have. I trust her judgment on things a lot more than anyone else’s, for that reason. She is a humanoid snake-like alien, a Slytherite, I believe. She stands upright, usually with her hands behind her back and her tail held slightly above the ground. Her scales are a very pale purple shade of color. Her snake eyes are dark green. She’s very serious all the time.

            She nodded at Zorka then turned to me. “I don’t doubt your judgment Hawk, he’s a strong one, but he needs a free will choice.” Her arms were crossed behind her slim body.

            “And he will when he becomes a more important agent. And… When he becomes less significant on Earth,” I replied.

            “Or until we need him and all the rest of the Dormant agents,” The Lieutenant finished. “Alright, it’s your call.” She turned to leave and the door shut behind her.

            “You’re the only one who can do this anyway.” Zorka laughed.

            “True,” I smiled. 

            “He’s really attractive for a human,” She commented.

            “You saw him for two seconds.” I replied.

            “Yeah…” she turned from me, “I know.”

            “Just stay calm during this whole thing or I’ll have Icaugi help me.” I told her, turning to the four tanks of liquid. “The process shouldn’t be able to kill him.”

            “No,” she responded and looked at her clipboard screen and flipped through his genetic data. “There’s no chance of that.”

            “Let’s get started then.” I said as I turned to leave the room.


	5. Visual Log Entry Part 5

I walked to the holding cell where he slept and looked at the timing gauge by the shut door. It showed that he’s only been asleep for three minutes but his body shows that he’s been asleep for seven and a half hours. I opened the door and waited for him to wake up.

            His grip tightened around the Cheese-Itz box and he rolled over, “Five more minutes,” he mumbled in his cute sleepy voice.

            He’s too cute for his own good.

            I walked over to the bed and sat down. Looking down at his sleeping face, I turned his body to me and away from the wall. I gently pulled the box from his hand and set it on the floor. I sat still and waited.

            He jolted awake, sat up and looked around. “I’m in space.” He said quickly and looked at me.

            “Yes,” I smiled and nodded. “Would you like to be a part of this for the rest of your life?”

            He looked confused. “How would that happen? I’m human.”

            “You would become a nonhuman, like me, but you’d be able to return to your human life until we need you to be Active.” I explained. I hope this isn’t too overwhelming or something.

            He didn’t answer, “I’m not against it, but it’s just sudden.”

            “It’ll protect you from those aliens that attacked you today and you’ll be able to defend yourself if they ever return.” I continued, “This will most likely become an ongoing issue. It’s actually safer if you go through with it.”

            Mark sighed. “Yeah I guess but…” he almost spoke a few times.

            “I know you have a lot of questions,” I started. “You may get powers and you may not. But you will have wings and some training to learn to use them properly. I don’t know what powers you will get since mine are so vast and it does depend on what’s compatible with you.” I paused, “But if you could get an Element… that’d be amazing.”

            “An element?” he asked. “Like… Avatar stuff?”

            “There are more than four elements and each is controlled by the Elemental. A wolf-hybrid Apprentice may or may not be granted an element, as far as we are concerned. It usually doesn’t show up in the first 24 hours. After two days it may never show up. The element depends on its compatibility with the user. I can control Life and Katey can control Air.” I explained further.

            “So… I’d be in space… I’d be saving people with other people who want to do the same thing. I just wouldn’t be human anymore….” He thought out loud. “I’d be able to do something more with my life than just make people happy from a game and a webcam.”

            I smiled and he stopped, “That last one is exactly why you will be returning to your human life when we are done here.” I crossed my arms under my chest and leaned back on the wall. “You are also safer on Earth than here. If they can’t track you, they can’t find you.”  

            “The barrier?” He asked.

            “Your powers,” I answered. “They’ll be looking for a human…” crap “…even though they know where you live. The barrier will keep them out though. But you’ll also be under our protection. And she usually only attacks once, failure or successful, it’s always been one attack or attempt.”

            “At least with the powers I wouldn’t be helpless…” He commented then smiled, “And I could be here in space a lot.”

            I nodded and stood up, “Exactly.”

            He stood up and looked at me, “now?”

            “Well… yeah. When else would this happen?” I asked before leaving the room. He followed me to the prep room next to Zorka’s room. I opened the door and gestured for him to go inside. “Change into that so we can start.”

            “It’s a robe,” He said as he picked it up from the counter.

            “It’s either the robe we let you wear or you destroy all your clothes because we didn’t anticipate spontaneous combustion.” I remarked, “And leave your glasses.”

            “But…” He looked at me.

            “The Change will fix your eye sight. You won’t need them,” I told him before leaving the room and letting the door shut behind me. 

            A few moments later the door opened and I just knew. I didn’t have to look. “All of it, Mark.”  

            “Why?” he whined.

            “It’s a self conscious security feeling to keep your briefs on. I get it. But if they get destroyed you won’t have anything from Earth to wear.” I answered and heard him grumble as he took them off and added them to the pile. He tied the robe shut and followed me to the next room.

            My ears started ringing after the door shut behind us and the droning of the rest of the HQ had nearly muted. Something I notice only when it’s like this. I’m so used to the noise.

            He looked at the cushiony table and sat on it as Zorka gestured to it. She watched him in silence.

            The leaf tattoo on my arm started heating up. It covers my whole arm now. I don’t use my powers willy nilly, only when necessary. Lots of history to cover but the Elemental who granted me this element sends me hints on when I’ll need to use it, if I am unaware, by making my tattoo burn.

            Which is weird, considering he’s compatible with this process and I shouldn’t need to bring him back to life or any such things.

            “Ready?” I asked him, ignoring my arm. I looked at Zorka and she nodded. She went over to the door that held the observation room for this lab. The one-way, indestructible window allowed her to watch.

            “What is this going to do exactly?” He asked before answering my question.

            “It’ll…” I thought about it. “Change your genetic code so that you can protect yourself.”

            “Oh…” He responded. “So what exactly will this do?”

            I glared at him and answered plainly, “It’ll allow you to come to space whenever you damn well want to.” I tried so hard not to smile. “And you’ll get wings.”

            He smiled a bit and finally answered after thinking about it for a few moments. “I’m ready.”


	6. Visual Log Entry Part 6

“This shouldn’t hurt a bit, unless of course it hurts.” I commented as I stood in front of him.

            “Wait…” He interjected. “This won’t kill me right?”

            I sighed as I heard Zorka laugh from the other room, “Like you would let him stay dead.” I turned and glared at the one way window. “No one stays dead around you and you know it!” She couldn’t hold back her laughter.

            I sighed and looked back at Mark, “No, it won’t kill you. And she’s right. I wouldn’t let you stay dead.”

            “Not when she can bring people back to life like it’s no big deal!” she laughed.

            “You can do that?” He asked. His mind darted through memories.

            “If I’m there when they die and it’s only been a few minutes. After that, finding a soul after its left the body, it gets really difficult. I’ve never had to find a soul but still.” I answered.

            “Yeah, then you have to ask for help.” She had calmed down some.

            “Only when I visit…” I stopped talking. I shouldn’t have said that. I should not have said that.

            “Visit?”

            “Yeah, she can bridge between Heaven, Earth and Hell.” Zorka blurted out.

            “Is there no confidentiality anymore?!” I shouted. “Why don’t you just tell him the passwords to all the security systems while you’re at it?” 

            She was quiet after that.

            Mark stared at the floor. He slowly looked up at me, “Could we visit heaven at some point?”

            “I’d have to communicate with them and plan it out a bit,” I answered quietly, thinking it out. “It would only be a short visit.”

            He breathed slowly, “That’d be enough time.” he smiled softly.

            “Who do you want to visit?” I asked softly and saw images of his childhood through his memories.  

            He choked up before he could answer and could only look at me with the saddest face I’ve seen in a long time.

            “Your father?” I asked, piecing it together. “That shouldn’t be difficult.” I thought about it for a moment, “It hasn’t been that long since he moved on…” I stopped and watched him cry. I put my hand on his shoulder, “those better be happy tears.”

            He nodded quickly and took several deep breaths before speaking, “Yeah, they are.”

            I moved my hand to his face and wiped away some tears, “Good. But now I need you to calm down so your readings can start out at normal instead of emotional.” I pulled away from him and got some water from the other room and returned with it. He took it from me and did his best.

            “Thanks,” he said happily. He blinked a few times and his breathing returned to normal and Zorka turned on the green light. That was the all clear. “What was in that?”

            “That was Healing Water that comes from my Trainer’s home planet. It fixes everything very quickly.” I answered, taking the cup from him and putting it aside. “Now are you ready?”

            He smiled and nodded and sat up straight.

            I put my right thumb on his chest and the other on his forehead, resting my hand on the side of his head. I blinked and my eyes turned white but various colored hazes surrounded my eyes. I looked into his eyes and spoke, “With this Change you will forever be one of my pack.” My voice echoed as I spoke, my voice echoed around the room. A wave of energy surged from me to him through my arms and lit up around the contact points, sending rings of light rippling across his skin. The energy made the lights flicker. “With this Change your fate is in our hands.” The surge intensified and the colorful haze surrounded us in a typhoon. “Your life is ours now and it will always be yours to give.” I finished the first part of the Oath and concentrated.

            The different energies that surrounded us both tilted his head back and lifted us into the air. I opened my tan wings and held them inside the whirlwind of energies, I held my feet together. I moved my hand from his head, down his neck and onto his chest, accidentally pulling the robe apart too much and the knot fell apart.

            “With these powers you will be able to protect the ones you love!” I said loudly over the wind so he could hear me. I looked at his chest and he was still arched. A light blue orb brightened around his heart. I put both hands over his soul and changed his life forever.


	7. Visual Log Entry Part 7

White light engulfed us both and it fell silent. I opened my eyes to a field. “It’s always a field.” I chuckled and looked at the forest that lined the edge of it on one side.

            “Did we die?” Mark asked.

            “No, we didn’t. We are in your soul.” I turned and answered as I gestured to all of him.  

            He looked down and tried to cover up. “I feel so awkward and uncomfortable.”

            “Your soul is the purest form of you.” I raised my hands and moved them down, pulling something with them, “But if you’d like to cover up…” I said as I moved a shroud of light around his waist. I wonder if he’s noticed the new muscles. That was fast though.

            “Yeah…” He said, lifting his arms. “Thanks. So why are we in my soul?”

            “I’m distracting you from the agonizing pain of actually changing your genetics. It shouldn’t be more than a few moments.” I answered, “Wings are the worst part.”

            “Why?”

            “I have to add to your bone structure and extend it, grow tendons and muscles and feathers and a place for them under your skin,” I explained. “They’ll settle in a skin pocket between your back muscles and your natural skin. The two wing scars on your back is how they’ll get in and out. Additional muscle mass will make it look more natural.”

            He thought about it and sighed. “So what now?”

            “We wait.” I answered.

I walked passed him. I stopped at the semi-damaged tree in the middle of the field. It looked like it had been struck with lightning.

            “Are you sure you want to wander my soul?” he asked, finally catching on to these events.

            “There’s no better way to get to know you than from the source of your personality.” I replied, putting my hand on a tree. It’s not always a tree but there’s always something significant to the person that is a physical representation of how their life has been up to this point.

            He followed me and stood by me as I looked into the tree.

            I pulled my hand away, “There’s a darkness in your soul… deep down… trying to get out.”

            “Really?” He asked, “How do you know?”

            “I can feel it… through the tree,” I answered, putting my hand back. “But there is also light…” I whispered and looked up at the top of the tree. “The light is keeping the darkness from getting out…”

            “That explains a lot actually.” He replied and walked with me away from the tree. “I’m almost never angry at people. I never hold a grudge or anything like that. I’m usually the first to apologize too.”

            I smiled, “That’s a great personality to have. But the second phase of training may release the darkness, of course if there’s time after I get you set up in the Archives.”

            “The second phase? What’s the first?”

            “Managing the powers you have. The second is…” I trailed off. I never talked about it with him. “You’ll be able to turn into a wolf.”

            “A wolf? Why a wolf?”

            “That’s what kind of hybrid I am, part wolf. But the humanoid part is me, Hawk.” I pointed to myself. “My human side was the original me and makes me who I am, but I am Hawk all the time. I have been for years now.”

            “Is it painful?”

            “Transforming into a wolf? No. It’s not.” I turned to him, making us stop. “But it’s the anger you need to control. You and you alone can control your anger. That darkness I saw may cause a problem so I think we will save that for after you become an active agent.”

             “So just the basics?” he asked.

            “Yes, wings and a few basic powers and whatever else genetically compatible with you,” I answered. “Who knows? Maybe you’ll get a piece of my affinity for technology.”

            “That’d be really cool.” he smiled, “That’ll be useful.”

            “But it’ll be inaccessible until activation.” I reminded him. “All of your powers will be.”

            “Then why change me?”

            “You can use them when you are threatened by a non-human and when I’m around.” I answered.

            He shrugged. “You keep dancing around answers.”

            “I know what you want me to say, but I can’t say it.” I answered. He wants to know why I’m really doing this. His safety is half the answer. But that kept him quiet.  I looked up. “Looks like it’s done,” I looked at him as the field around us turned white.

            I opened my eyes and saw that we were still in the spiral of energy. His change was complete and I slowly started powering down. I stood in front of him as we landed.

            He opened his eyes and jumped. I jumped back as bone spikes jutted out from his chest.

            “Defensive,” I turned to the window. “Are you ready?”

            The green light blinked twice and I continued. “Your defense is the bone cell generation and movement.” I noted clearer. I held his arm up and felt for any differences. There were a few already. “There’s slight increase in muscle mass, most likely linked to make everything look normal.” There’s usually more than that.

            “How do I put the bones away?” He asked and I let go of his arm and stepped back.

            I shrugged my shoulders towards him then pressed out my own defensive bone spikes. My arms, shoulders and the top of my rib cage were covered in spikes aimed at him. “It’s like flexing a muscle.” I said as I shrugged again and they receded back into my skin. The cloth on my vest fixed itself and my black top fixed itself.

            “That’s why you wanted me to change?”

            I nodded and grabbed his arm again, placed it into the hook punch position; arm up at shoulder height and bent at the elbow into a 90 degree angle. I stepped back and did the same. “Try punching like this,” I said as I demonstrated, stepping back with one foot and turning my body to the fighting guard stance. I punched as if I was going to land the punch on someone. As I thrust my arm forward, bone spikes emerged from my skin and jutted out towards the spot the punch would land. I stood in place and showed him again, only slower.

            “Cool,” he said and tried to copy me. When it didn’t work he looked at me.

            I straightened up and grabbed his arm, placed it back into the starting position and explained, “When you punch, you’re not punching your enemy. You’re throwing the punch so that the target is skewered with your bone spikes.” I guided it as I spoke and ran my pointer finger over the place in his forearm the spikes should come through, down the middle of the top of his arm. There’s usually three or four depending on the length of the forearm. More training would allow for sharper edges.

            “Alright,” He tried it again. I threw my left arm in an uppercut and blocked his spikes with a shield.

            “Good,” I responded. “This could also happen,” I said while his attack was locked with my defense. My bone shield started absorbing his spikes.

            “Ow! Wait a second!” He shouted as he curled his body with his arm trying to keep the spikes straight. I brought him to the ground and he looked up at me in pain.

            “The ones who hunt you don’t give a shit about your pain or how you feel,” I said firmly, letting him go. “I know of their boss. She’s someone we’ve been trying to find for years now. I’ve faced her minions before.” He sat back on the table and held his arm for a moment. I looked at him. “If you look at us as the good guys, she’s the main villain. She’s the one with the power.”

            I stopped. I guess the sudden mood change was a bit extreme. I looked into his fearful eyes. “You’re one of us now. They can’t touch you.” I changed my tone.


	8. Visual Log Entry Part 8

 A sudden wave of energy came from him as he stared at something behind me. It lingered around us.

I stepped back. “How are you doing that?”

            “Doing what?” He asked and looked at me. The energy disappeared.

            I looked off to the side and tried to figure out what that was. I looked into the window. “Zorka did his readings change?”

            She came out of the room with shock on her face. “Yeah….” she went back in. She came back out with the data on a glass screen.

            “What?” Mark asked as she handed it to me.

            I looked at the readings. The energy spike proves that he’s strong and doesn’t realize it. His heart rate didn’t spike so there’s a large amount of untapped power trying to get out. The potential…

_He could be…_

            “Maybe it’s…” I mumbled thoughtfully as I handed him the glass screen. He held the handhold on the side.

            He looked at it and the layers of glass started to separate. The hand hold separated from the glass and also took itself apart. He cupped his hands below it and it floated out to display every piece. Electricity pulsed between the main components.

            I chuckled. “You would get the technology affinity.”

            He looked at me and smiled, “I am an engineer.”

            “You used to be an engineer,” I replied as I put my hands below his. I overrode his powers and everything put itself back together and I took it from him. I kept silent and started inputting information into his file. Zorka returned to the observation room.

            It took a few moments but when I finished I looked up at him. He had been looking around the room.

“You were right about not needing glasses. It’s amazing to be able to see again.”  His eyes landed on the tanks of liquid, “And it’s not even normal vision.”

            He got up and went over to them. “It’s, like, super vision or something.” He looked into the water, “are there little things moving around in there?” he put his hands on the glass and focused more.

            I didn’t answer.

I wonder how long he can be distracted so that he doesn’t realize that his robe came off.

I walked over and stood next to him. I held the tablet to my hip.  

            “What is in here?” He asked and glanced at me.

            “It’s a concentrated Healing Water from the planet my trainer is from.” I answered, putting my hand on his back. I leaned on one leg and waited.

            He froze, “I can feel your hand on my back.”

            I started to laugh “There it is,” He looked around for it. “Just…” I trailed off as I watched him use his bone powers to cover himself. “…go change.”

            He glared at me. The bone shaped into small spikes towards me.

            “Watch your emotions. It can get deadly really quickly.” I warned, watching him leave.

I followed him to the door and left him alone to change. Zorka stood next to me. She was glowing.

            “Thank you,” she whispered.

            “Don’t thank me. That wasn’t on purpose. The robe flew off in the energy field and his accelerated metabolism warmed him so that he didn’t notice.” I explained then laughed. I nudged her playfully. “Don’t get carried away, Zorka.”

            She smiled, “I won’t.” She showed me her other tablet and took mine.

            I smiled and rested my head on the wall. I held up the tablet so I could watch the video. “This is in the database I hope you know.”

            “I know. We always record them,” she said. “But I might keep this one.” She smiled at the video and watched how he stood there without any realization to being naked. “Or this one,” She said, flipping to the next one.

            “Front view, good job.” I said sarcastically and looked away. “It’s like you’re a kid again.” I pushed her back into the other room. “Go clean up the medical archives or something.”

            The door opened and Mark walked out. He wasn’t wearing his shirt but wore the briefs and shorts. “It’s too hot to wear the shirt,” he mumbled as I lead him further down the hallway.

            “We’ll deal with your wings next, then take you to my Superiors. After that I’ll lock your powers and take you home.” I explained as he walked beside me.

            “Do I get a uniform?” He asked as he strayed from me to stare out the window, out at space. It wasn’t the best view, but that didn’t matter.

            “What’s that?” He asked, pointing at something. His eyes were locked on something.

            I walked over to the window and followed where he was pointing. I focused on it and felt my vision zoomed in. It became clearer and could see something moving on the surface. It was too large to ignore. We usually ignore small things poking around the outside of HQ.  I put my hand on the communicator on my vest, “Bridge, come in.”

            “Bridge here, over.”

            “Is there a patrol in section E right now?”

            _You know what it is._

            “No there isn’t why?” the respondent didn’t let go of the line and I figured he was looking it up on the cameras. “Oh shit!” his voice was frantic and became distant with his next statement, “Code Red! Security to Section E! Full defense and plasma protection!” His announcement echoed through the hall.

            I watched as one poked its head up and looked at me. I saw heat waves radiate from its mouth as it bobbed its head up and down as it ran towards me. It leaped up and dug its claws into the overhang then moved its head to look in the window at us.

            I put my arm across Mark’s chest and backed away from the window slowly. “Stay still,” I whispered as it looked at us better. The gold slitted eyes pierced through the heavily tinted glass and saw us.  

            I felt Inner Demon instantly become more active and I felt a power surge course through my body.

            The floor shook as the air locks opened and five ships went out to fight the ones farther off. 

            I moved my arm up slowly, creating a barrier over us and backed into the wall. The thing put one of its front feet on the window and growled at us with sharp teeth that slowly parted then closed. I put Mark behind me and with my free arm grabbed the air in front of me, clenched my hand into a fist.

            This was dangerous as hell, I know. Plasma versus super powered hybrid energy doesn’t end well for the hybrid. And this isn’t exactly covered in training. Deep Space dragons don’t appear very often, if at all, to anyone. Three sightings in the last 4,000 earth years and they were always glimpses.   

            I held my left arm up until I knew I had a grip on its body. I kept it there instead of trying something. It pushed against me and I felt more, darker power flow through my arm and reinforce it. Black energy engulfed my own green energy. I walked forward as it started to pull away. It was pulling me to the glass. My hand met the glass and was pulled through it.

            I flung a second barrier back at Mark. It would keep him where he was if the glass broke. I used my right arm to prop myself against the glass. I looked at it face to face.

Its teeth separated again as my regeneration slowed and couldn’t keep up with the degeneration in the vacuum of space. It moved its body as far as it could and moved its head over my arm.

            _No!_ Inner Demon shouted before he lashed out at it.

            “ _You can’t beat it!”_ I shouted my thoughts to him. 

            _I can try to get it away from you!_ He shouted again as the thing let go and flew back to the others as security drove them off.

            The glass fixed itself as I pulled my arm back through. I looked at the damage. It ranged from lightly singed to a third degree burn.           

            “My regeneration isn’t working…” I whispered. I held my damaged arm with my other hand and felt my leaf tattoo glow. But after a few tries it flickered and stopped.

I looked at Mark as the barriers protecting him fell. “…I should know how to handle this but I… just don’t.”

            “Give yourself a break. You were a vessel to a demon for seven years,” a male voice spoke from a few feet away. I looked at him and gestured at Mark.

            I didn’t relax even though that was true. “Take him to the waiting room by the Council. I’ll be there soon.” I didn’t look at either of them, held my arm, turned away from them and ran down the hall and got away from them both. I turned the corner and had to get to the Hallo room. This was getting worse by the second, I could feel it inch up my arm and start to cross my shoulder.

            “Hawk!” I heard Malchior yell as I passed him in the hall. “Got it!” He yelled and reacted as I ran through two open doors and jumped through the second pair. I turned over to face the ceiling and was suspended in mid air. Three robotic arms with needles moved out from the side of the room. “Starting the Alpha Healing Process,” he said over the speaker and the needles injected the Healing Water into the patches of skin on my arm. It was injected into my shoulder and bicep and could only dribble over my forearm and hand. The water quickly started working.

            After a few moments he lowered me onto the cushioned floor. I rolled over and kept my arm off the ground. The floor started warming up and I laid there for what felt like hours.


	9. Visual Log Entry Part 9

The doors opened and he walked out onto the padded floor. He put his arm on me and I looked up at him. “It wasn’t that bad this time.”

            I sat up and looked at him, “A deep space dragon pulled my arm through the glass… but I guess it could have been worse.” I sighed as he turned to go back to the room. “I know, Malchior, but near a new recruit it can look so much worse.”

            “Who’s with him now?” He paused.

            “A guard I think.” I answered.

            “Where is he taking him?”

            “To the waiting room by the council…” I answered and trailed off. “He’s powerful.”

            “The recruit? How powerful?” he leaned on the door frame. His dark blue eyes pierced through me.

            “Very,” I held my head with my unharmed hand. “If he ever realizes that before he can control it he could put himself and others around him in danger.”

            “We lock his powers?”

            “After our meeting, yes,” I replied and waited for him to shut the door behind him, which he did after he saluted me. I closed my eyes. I breathed a few deep breaths and on the last one, a white haze engulfed the room.

            “I was helping you, Hawk!” A deep male voice yelled at me from the other side of the haze. It dissipated slowly and I saw his red eyes first.

            “How? By increasing my power beyond what I can handle so I couldn’t control anything anymore?! I could have handled it!” I yelled at him. His shirtless, sculpted form came into view. The raven black hair stood out against the white room. “Our deal was that you give me some demonic power when I need it! No other time!” I started circling him angrily. He didn’t seem bothered by my anger.

            “No you couldn’t have!” He argued and turned to face me as I got up and circled him. “And I can make you use my power when I feel that you are threatened or when I think someone is threatening you!”

            I stopped and looked at him, “Yeah it charged me but…”

            “Wait…” he looked confused. “What are you talking about?”

            “I’m talking about the dragon that attacked HQ, the thing I used the barrier for.” I answered. “What are you talking about?”

            He looked at me intensely. “You can’t feel it?”

            “Feel what?”

            “You used to be able to feel a person’s hatred in an instant and knew exactly how to deal with it.” His voice lowered into almost a whisper.

            “Inner Demon, what are you talking about?” I asked him. Clearly we weren’t on the same page.

            He walked up to me and got in my face, “The darkness that is slowly getting stronger in that new recruit of yours.” He didn’t back down. “That thing has to be the only reason why he was attacked by her minions. Nothing else makes sense. And I can currently feel it get stronger and stronger more rapidly than before.”

            I stepped back and thought. “After I put up the barrier to protect him…”

            “That darkness must’ve felt his fear or something.” he explained, “Because I started feeling it too.” He calmed down more. “That’s why I’m here. To keep helping you.” He put his hand on my shoulder and it turned black. “I may be partially sealed inside you, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends and I can’t protect you.”

            I put my hand on his wrist to take his hand off me. I didn’t move at contact and felt a flame flow through me.

            “Raw dark energy feels great doesn’t it?”

            I pulled his hand away, “That’s not my path.” I growled then took a deep breath. “I have to protect him.” I said, stepping back and put one hand over my fist and breathed.

            “I’ll keep an eye on it all then,” the haze started to cover him again, leaving his eyes. “That’ll let you deal with the rest of it.”

            His statement echoed throughout the room after he disappeared. I put my hand on my stomach and felt the remains of the seal burn then fade.

Malchior opened the door and I left the room. “Is everything okay?”

            I turned to one of my oldest friends from this part of my life. His age was starting to show on his pale orange skin but the same, energetic flare from his younger years when we first met was still there in his dark blue eyes. “The darkness I saw in Mark’s soul is the same darkness that Inner Demon felt and defended me from. He’ll watch out for it, since he isn’t doing anything else.” We left that room and started walking to the Council’s Hall.

            “What do we do?” He asked, trying to keep up with me.

            “Do as I say and say nothing about this to anyone,” I commanded and chuckled. “I think Zorka likes him.”

            “The new recruit?”

            “His name is Mark, and yes.” I answered. “You’ll be able to find her data on him in the archives by its next cycle.”

            He nodded “What made you laugh?” he looked at me.

            “I transformed him while she watched from the safe room and…” I smiled and stopped. I slowly shook my head, still laughing. “She recorded it like she was supposed to, even the part when his robe fell off in the whirlwind.”

            His eyes widened a bit and he put both hands over his mouth and laughed as quietly as he could. When he found his breath again he asked, “So he’s naked and that’s gonna be in the ISF Archives under his name?”

            “Yeah,” I laughed. “If she doesn’t put it on file, it won’t be there. But if she saves it, it’ll be on file.”

            “Does he know?”

            “Of course not,” I answered. “But when we go over his file after I take him to our meeting, we’ll know what she did with it.”

            “I haven’t seen you smile like that in a long time,” he noted with a smile. “It’s nice to see you smile again and not be completely serious all the time.”

            My smile faded, “And you know why I don’t smile anymore.”

            “Yes, I do.” He replied softly. “And I’m sorry.” He stopped right before the last turn to the waiting room.

            I nodded and walked to greet Mark and the guard in the room. I heard them talking and they stopped when I opened the door.

            “Chief!” the guard said in surprise and saluted.

            I saluted back, “Did you tell him you’re not human?”

            Mark looked between us and landed his eyes on the guard.

            “No, I didn’t find it appropriate to let a new recruit know who I am right away.” He replied as he straightened up. He took off his helmet slowly and held it to his hip. His red hair fell from where it was placed and gathered behind him. He wiggled his ears and relaxed when they were their normal pointy selves again. His all red eyes looked at me then Mark and waited for his reaction. Mark was fascinated by him, instead of scared. Touxus’s silver skin had patches of rough spots, kind of like scales, but other parts weren’t so rough. I saw that he had tattooed his neck since I last saw him. It looked like a snake coiled up. I turned to Mark.

            “Mark, this is Officer Touxus. He’s from planet Thail,” I introduced. “Officer Touxus, this is Mark, the new recruit from earth.”

            “Active or dormant?” He asked, turning his red eyes to me.

            “Soon to be dormant,” I replied. “Now let’s get to the meeting.”

            “Right,” Officer Touxus led us to the two giant doors that would lead us to the Council. “It’s only a few key members. Right now, but after you leave they will be discussing the event from Section E.”

            I nodded and waited for the doors. Mark stood behind me. When the doors opened I lead him up the three steps onto the observation floor in front of all who were there. I nodded to all of them and started.

            “Due to recent events, this human has become one of my kind due to safety and his own mental health.” I said officially and waited for them to nod. I knew them all so I’m sure it was alright with them. “The decision went through Lieutenant Linalool as well, so it wasn’t just me running the show.”

            The few council members simply nodded and waited for us to leave.

            The doors shut behind me and I let out a huge sigh of relief.

            “What?”

            “They could have said no.” I answered.

            “Meaning…?”

            “They could have killed you, numb nuts.” Officer Touxus snapped, holding his gun and tapping it onto his other hand impatiently.

            “He doesn’t know anything, Touxus, so play nice.” I reminded him. He rolled his eyes and put his helmet back on and went on with his routine.

            “He’s not very nice…” Mark commented.

            “When you become active, he’ll be your room mate. He’s not too particular to humans but now you know.” I joked and walked away. “Let’s get you to my upper ring of agents.” I lead him down the hallway and further away from the glass windows that I knew would distract him. This hallway led to an elevator. I pressed the square light on the wall and it turned green. Mark looked at me.

            “Can you please let me know when you’re being sarcastic?”

            “How could you tell?”

            “You have already told me that humans basically have their own section of the sleeping quarters so I figured you were being sarcastic just then,” Mark explained. He sighed and leaned on the wall. “So what is that one agent going to do with that recording of me?”

            “If we are lucky, delete it.” I answered and watched him. He was definitely sharper than before. “How much smarter do you feel?”

            “Very,” he answered. “Why?”

            “You’ve gained the bone manipulation, the technology affinity and intelligence.” I answered and moved over to him. “Your brainwaves must be incredible…” I mumbled, putting my hand on his head. I was blasted with visuals of video games, Cincinnati and people. I pulled my hand away right as the doors opened.

            We went inside and he didn’t look away from me.

            “Intelligence means that you will develop telepathy over time, telekinesis and other such brainwave educed powers,” I explained. “It’s not a bad thing but if it gets too strong…”

            “…and uncontrolled I can become a monster?” He finished.

            “Yes,” I answered softly. “But none of us are really monsters,” I answered and looked at the wall.

            We’re not monsters. Sure, shit happens but… we aren’t like that… Kiba wouldn’t lie to me like that. _You’re not a monster, Hawk. You haven’t been and you never will be. Even with that thing on your chest._


	10. Visual Log Entry Part 10

The elevator slowed down and stopped me in my train of thought. The doors opened to a bright, short hallway. Malchior was waiting for us at the doors.

            “Welcome, Chief.” He saluted and held back his smile.

            I saluted back and walked by him. I entered the room and the agents inside stood up and saluted me. Lieutenant Linalool was standing ever so perfectly in front of her chair to the left of my chair at the end of the table. Malchior stood in front of his chair on my right. Malchior’s wife, Kenorfka wasn’t present. Neither was Kiba, the current Chief who isn’t here very much anymore. Katey and Icaugi sat near each other on one side of the table. I put Mark in a chair on the other then took my seat at the end.

            “Where’s Kenorfka?” I asked, turning to Malchior.

            “Maternity leave.” He said smiling.

            “Again?” Icaugi asked humorously.

            “How many do you have now?” Katey asked, “Seven?”

            “Three,” he corrected. “And this is our last. So we will have four.”

            “Finally have the son you’ve been wanting?” I asked.

            “Yep.” He said with a huge smile. He ran his fingers through his dark hair and looked down at the table and tapped a few of the touch screens, pulling up Mark’s file. “Let’s get started,” he said, looking at Linalool.

            I spoke first. “When I went to earth, I knew I had to protect it from whoever was traveling to it and whatever their intentions were,” the lights dimmed and the Starcraft’s visual log helped me here. “These are images of who attacked LA.” I flipped through images of the aliens and their spaceship. “I learned an important thing from this.” I said and the lights brightened. I stood up, “the same woman we’ve been trying to find for the last three decades is on the move again.”

            “This time she attacked a human,” Linalool discussed. “Why?”

            “Because there is darkness in him that I have sensed,” I put my hand on my stomach, “and that he’s sensed too.”

            Mark shrunk back in his chair as the agents in the room looked over at him. Katey looked at me.

            “There was darkness like that in….”

            I knew what Katey was going to say. I slammed my hand onto the table and it shut her up. “We will not speak of that at this time.” I said with suppressed anger, glared at her and sat down. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I felt my leaf tattoo on my arm heat up. I put my left hand on my right bicep and my arm cooled down.

            “What matters is that we are a step closer to her and that Mark is safe.” Linalool continued the conversation. “He’s one of you now I presume?” she looked at Katey then at me as I looked up.

            “Yes, after this meeting I will get him a uniform then get his wings out. After that I’ll take him home.”  I answered.

            “And make him dormant?”

            “Of course,” I answered as I scrolled through the file that Malchior waved over to me across the table. The table is a giant touch screen linked to, well, everything. His full name, age, date of birth, gender, place of birth, home town, family members, friends and current address were displayed next to his picture. The image of him was standing with his arms down and looking into the distance and it rotated in place. He was wearing the male uniform pants. I tapped the line under Hybrid Abilities and typed in, ‘Bone Manipulation, Technology Affinity and Intelligence. More may develop.’ I moved down to fears and put in what I already knew.

            “And mannequins.” He spoke up, “I hate mannequins.” He shuddered and curled up in his seat.

            Katey giggled. “He’s cute when he’s frightened.”

            I added in mannequins and left a lot of it vague. “The rest we can fill out when you become active.” I waved the file over to Linalool and she swept it over the edge of the table, which put it in the archives.

            “Welcome to the ISF, Mark Fischbach.” I smiled and watched Lieutenat Linalool get up, nod to me and leave. The others followed, one after the other. Katey started talking to Malchior down the hall. Mark was still sitting in his seat. His arms were crossed over his chest and held onto his biceps.

            “Now what?” He asked. “I go home?”

            “No, actually,” I answered and got out of my chair. I walked behind his chair and put my hands on his shoulders. I closed my eyes and ran my fingertips over his skin. I opened my eyes, “Whatever that darkness was it’s gone now.”

            “For now…” Mark added. He stood up and looked at me with his dark brown eyes that weren’t that dark before.

            I felt my slight happiness drain from me when he moved over to me.  His energy had shifted. It shifted so rapidly I didn’t even notice.

            _Careful Hawk,_ Whispered Inner Demon into my thoughts. _He’s surfaced._

            “Mark, what are you doing?” I asked when he put his hand on my stomach and pushed me into the wall. My stomach heated up and he pulled his hand away but he was too close to move away from. He looked at me with darkened eyes. Dark circles formed under his dark eyes and then I figured it out. Even his smile wasn’t really his own. It was more sinister than before. He put his arm above me on the wall and leaned in close. He just looked into my eyes. 

            _Get away from her!_ I heard him yell as he took control of my left arm again and raised it up above my head. It wasn’t its usual almost black color, it was black.

            Inner Demon tapped into long forgotten powers. He raised my arm and I looked at Mark. He was somewhere in there. And I knew what was going to happen… And felt sad that he was letting this happen to him.

            He gathered power in the palm of my hand. I didn’t have any control over it and I knew this wasn’t going to be good. The heated black orb of fiery energy sparked a reaction from him that showed he knew it was too late to do anything about it. He stepped back, giving Inner Demon enough room to force the orb into his chest. He used my body to push it deeper into his skin and threw him across the room.

            I watched him hit the wall and collapse to the floor. The power receded but I didn’t move from my last position. I could only watch as my decision had been tampered with.

            _That dark energy shouldn’t bother him for a while,_ Inner Demon told me before keeping quiet.

            I straightened up and walked around the meeting table and sat down next to his unconscious form. I moved him onto his back and looked at his well developed chest. Almost no damage could be seen.

            “Good.” I whispered and put my hand on the remaining damage. I waited for him to wake up and didn’t expect it to take long.

            He finally moved and woke up, “Ugh, what happened?” he asked, putting his hand on his head. “I feel like I got my head smashed against a wall.” he looked at me.

            “You don’t remember anything do you?” I asked, “About being taken over…”  

            “What? No I don’t, but… what?” He questioned and sat up.

            “That darkness that we know is there took over but it shouldn’t bother you anymore.” I explained knowing that I left out some key facts he should probably know about.  

            “That was weird.” He recalled, “After everyone left it got hazy and I thought I blacked out.”

            I got up and helped him up, “You did, but your body didn’t.” I opened the door and walked out, expecting him to follow. “Hopefully you won’t need to get used to it.”

            He kept quiet and followed me to the Recruitment Hall. This hall connected to rooms that helped out all new recruits, which included uniform fitting, badge making and accessories such as weapons, and just about anything else you could think of.

            We walked into the first room. It displayed every type of uniform we supply and allow. For my kind, the males usually choose just the vest and pants complete with combat boots and a big gun. But I gave him all the options.

            “I’ll let you choose your uniform. The most common is to just wear the vest.” I explained, grabbing the tape measure. 

            “Do I get to pick colors?” He asked and held up his arms.

            “The new recruits get blue, so not really. After that, whatever division you go into has a specific color.” I put it up to his arm, recorded the number from his shoulder to his elbow and let him drop his arms.

            “If I just wear the vest, why do you need my arm length?”

            “Your wing span can get up to twice your height and your arm length determines how long your wing scars will be.” I explained, moving behind him. “Which you still need to create,” I explained as I put my hands on the top of his shoulders and felt for the new wing joints. They were right where they were supposed to be, right between the middle of the shoulder blades and his spine. “This is going to hurt like a bitch so you should probably sit down.”

            “Wait,” he jumped to turn to me. “Don’t I get any pain killer?”

            “No you don’t.” I answered, turning him back around and placing him on the bench, “Your metabolism will burn it off before I could even do what I need to do and your accelerated healing rate would heal it too quickly for it to be any real health problem.”

            He put his hands on his knees and stared at the floor.

            I lined up both of my hands with the wing joints and traced down what I could feel with my first two fingers. “This’ll work easily,” I thought to myself before plunging my claws into his skin where the scar would start.

            He screamed in pain and tried to move away from me as I dragged my claws through his back and he swayed a bit, like he was going to pass out but he caught himself. I pressed my hands onto his bleeding gashes and healed it to where it needed to be.

            “Fuck!” he exclaimed as I put my hands on his shoulders and held him in place. He breathed heavily and it soon died down. “That was fast.”

            “Told you,” I said as I felt for the wings. “One more part,” I said as I pressed down on his lower back and squeezed them out of him. I backed up as they opened.

            “Oh that’s really weird.” He mumbled, “They move almost involuntarily.”

            “They are a part of you, an extension of you, so of course they do.” I said, opening my own wings through the barely noticeable slits in the back of my vest. My tan wings could reach around him and touch tips. I leaned on his back, between the scars and he didn’t flinch in pain. He was too interested in my tan wings. I moved mine and smiled, “Enjoy your own.” I pushed on his wing joints, making them forward so he could see them.

            They were jet black and had red markings on them that resembled a stretched out M that lined the top part. He held his wing and petted his feathers and sat there.

            His shoulders slumped forward a little. I think it hit him.

            “This’ll be my life in the future wont it?” He asked as he held his other wing as well.

            “Yes,” I replied. I folded my wings to my back and turned to find him a vest frame that would fit his wing scars. “But not for a long time. You’re needed on Earth a lot more than you are needed here.”

            I didn't need to see his face to know he was smiling. He stood up and awkwardly turned to me, unsure of how to hold his wings. I heard them smack against the wall as he moved. 

            I looked at him from across the room, “They’re like muscles. You need to train them and work them and exercise them.” I said, showing off my tan wings. I smiled as I saw that my fifteen foot wingspan outsized his, what looked like, nine and a half foot wingspan.

            “Do they grow with skill or something?” He noticed it too.

            “No,” I chuckled. “They don’t grow with time or skill.”

            “Then why are yours huge?”  

            I thought about how to explain it and continued looking through vest frames. “When I started training, back when I was ten or eleven earth years old... I started really early for some reason... I trained so rapidly and efficiently that Kiba expanded them, he was training me. They were originally about ten feet, double my earth height at the time, but the expansion helped me control my flight a lot better. I’m faster than most Apprentices with wings and overall more skilled in everything else.” I walked over with one vest frame that looked like it would fit him. I turned him around and opened the frame, closed it at the bottom then around his wings’ bases and around his arms. He faced me and I tapped the small screen. I put in his name and the color choice, wing scheme and hair color. I waited for it to synchronize with the detailed size portions of his chest and down his torso.

            “I thought I didn’t get to choose my color?”

            “You don’t. But it’ll look better with hints of red and black on the tips of it, like accent colors.” I answered, taking it off him when it was done. “We have a lot more time to make your vest in your Dormant state.” I closed it up and walked to the end of the room, placed it in a transport pod and sent it off. “They’ll get to work on that and it’ll be ready when you return... However many years from now that’ll be.”

            He sighed and looked out the window of the room. “Do I really have to leave?”

            “My Lieutenant and I concluded that you would want to stay on Earth, so you could be one of us but not too busy with our orders to be the YouTuber on Earth people seem to need,” I answered and waited for him to react.


	11. Visual Log Entry Part 11

“I do…” He said thoughtfully and opened the door and walked out. I followed. He walked down the hall and tried to find a window. Other agents watched us walk around, new recruit in the lead, wings out awkwardly and a smile on my face. He turned down a hallway and stopped at a window with a view he hadn’t seen yet. “…but space.” he leaned on the window’s ledge and stared out at the uninterrupted view of space. His eyes darted around. I’m sure he was happy about his new and enhanced eye sight.

            I stood next to him and spoke softly, “And space technology and aliens and…” I paused. “…We could really use an earth engineer…”

            He laughed softly, “Yeah that’s totally the reason why I’m here.”

            My smile disappeared and I stared out into space.

            “Why do you want me here?” He turned to me.

            I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. As I let it out I opened my eyes, “I knew you had to join the ISF Dormant Agent Division the moment I figured out that it wasn’t some random attack.” I answered, my voice softened, “It’s my job to protect humans. The MIB ‘way out in left field’ division of the ISF is on Earth and there to manage their own stuff. We don’t mind, in fact we encouraged it. We deal with interplanetary affairs anyway. They do their own thing and we do ours, but we contact each other when it’s necessary.” I stopped once I realized I was rambling.

            “MIB… the Men in Black?” he wondered.

            “The very same thing but the movies were so inaccurate we don’t keep them here.” I answered and laughed softly, “Not that the alien movies are any more accurate… Xenomorphs as they’re called, are really nice to telepaths.” I paused, “I’m out here most of the time and you’d be on earth. You’d be an open target there and you had to be protected somehow.” I looked at him. “And this was the answer.”

            “Couldn’t just leave me on earth?”

            I looked him in the eye, “The ones that attacked you work for a woman we’ve been trying to track for decades. If she wants you, then there’s some connection to you from her side.”  I paused and debated if I should say more, not that I knew much more than that.

            “There’s a lot going on that I won’t get to know about huh?” He asked.

            “Yeah,” I looked away. “After we lock away your powers, I’ll take you home and leave you alone. Hopefully the barrier plate will be able to protect you enough.”

            He reached out to hug me, and I let him. “Thank you.” he leaned down and pressed his head into my neck.

            We stood like that for a while until I glanced out the window and moved him so he could see it.

            “Wow,” he whispered, “a real shooting star.”

            “Are you gonna make a wish?” I asked, assuming he knew about that dumb earth superstition.

            He looked at me, “It already came true.” He smiled, “Didn’t ask for the life changing or life threatening part, but it came true.”

            “The ‘being in space’ part right?” I asked quietly as the lights flickered until they shut off. The communicator on my vest echoed with static and then ‘there is a level three shooting star moving across the electric field around sector seven. The power will come back shortly.’ Spoke through.

            “Yeah… He whispered back. “That part…” he straightened up and looked out the window.

            We watched the slowly moving, bright white object move past HQ. It wasn’t too far off but as it got closer the windows tinted.  It was really pretty and calming to look at. It left a streak of light in its path. I started laughing as I saw a robotic arm reach out from one of the roofs. It had a few different containers on it.

            “Are they really…?” He asked, watching it with me.

            “I think so.” I replied. “It’s not every day that a shooting star orbits so close to HQ.” The stardust moved into the containers and then they were pulled back through the roof.

            The tinted windows returned to normal and the lights flickered back on. He didn’t move away from me. As he looked out at whatever he was looking at, I felt the dark energy, but it was very dormant and pushed down. It’ll be trouble sooner or later. That seal thing isn’t going to last too long. Maybe a month or two, three if he’s lucky. I moved my arm up his back and scratched between the wing bases.

            He breathed in and wrapped his arms around me tightly, “Oh my god…” He sighed into my neck, “That feels amazing…” He didn’t speak after that and his breathing became more relaxed.

            I laughed softly to myself. “Works every time,” I whispered. He laughed softly. I smiled and lengthened my nails into sharp claws and lightly ran them down his back. His muscles spasmed and he jerked awake.

            “Don’t do that!” he faced me.   
            I stepped back and put my hands behind my back, “Let’s go get you a gun,” I suggested happily before walking away. He followed me to the Weaponry. This one here, on this HQ, is definitely more expansive and more supplied with weapons from around the galaxies than any HQ anywhere else on any planet in the Alliance and it has all my favorite weapons.

            I stopped at the round metal door, put my hand on the scanner and waited for the doors to open. I let him go first. He stopped in the entrance and looked at the room.

            Wall to wall gun display, isles and isles of ammo and other weapons lit up section by section as the lights turned on. A whole section for swords, another for archery, three isles for holsters and straps and basically anything you would need to carry your weapon any way you wanted. Shields of all types were on the last two isles. If a weapon doesn’t appeal to someone, a custom can be made, which is a new addition to this room.

            “This is way cooler than anything I’ve seen in a video game.” He said as he tried to take it all in.

            I walked over to my favorite place in here, the sword section. “I’ve trained with every sword in this room.” I explained as I picked up a blue bladed one. The silver handle was lined with small sapphire stones and the orb in the end of the handle let off a faint glow as I held it. “Chail was always temperamental.” I swished the tip down on the floor and watched a blue cloud of electricity form around me. It shot blue lightning out and nearly hit Mark as he walked over but he dodged it. I put it back on its display and watched it hover back into place.

            “All of these have names?” He asked as he looked at the displayed ones near him.

            “Yeah, they have names.” I picked up a smaller blade, “they’re usually given by the sword master that made them and we keep them that way. Changing the name would change its usability. The sword gets used to the name and responds to it.” I held it out on my hand, “a weapon can get used to a new user, but it can’t get used to a new name.”

            “It’s like they have personalities or something,” Mark said as he looked around more. He looked at a medium length silver blade with a black handle.  

            “They kind of do actually. That’s a simple one,” I analyzed it and him. “Pick it up.”

            He gently picked it up and it shot energy straight into the wall and he put it back quickly. We watched the wall piece itself back together.

            “Too much power…” I observed.

            “The simple one is too much for me?”

            “No, you are too powerful for it.” I explained. “That is a beginner’s sword. It funnels the user’s energy into a strike but judging by what just happened, it showed that it can’t handle your power.” I walked over to a bigger sword. Its dark green handle held together a duel bladed sword. The blades were held together at the base by a black orb. “Try this one.”

            He went over to it and it fell from its levitation onto the pillow. He picked it up and nothing happened. “What’s that mean?”

            “It’s too powerful for you, the opposite of that one over there.” I answered, “It’ll drain your power and kill you.” I turned around and looked at the isle of swords and thought about which one would work.

            He wandered over to the guns and stopped at one of the more powerful designs.

            I smiled as I watched the rest of the guns levitate and gather around him. “Power is a wonderful thing, Mark, but untrained power can lead to results we don’t want.”

            He turned and looked at me as he bumped into the guns that had surrounded him. I watched as it looked like they were observing him. He looked at every one of them. Each was a different level and I watched as the higher level ones seemed more interested in him.

            I crossed my arms under my chest and watched as the gun chose the Apprentice, well, Dormant Agent. He isn’t there yet. Slowly, the lower level guns went back to their spot and left only a few. “So The Sniper, Ragnarok and Inferno can’t decide which one wants to be your gun,” I commented as the three hovered around him without any other movement.

            “So they decide?” He asked, “Like in Harry Potter where the wand chooses the wizard?”

            “Yeah, similarly to that, but a lot of the time it doesn’t work very well.” I answered and walked over. It happened to me but it could also just happen because of the technology affinity. I tapped the handle on Ragnarok and it backed up into my hand. Its weight dragged down my arm until I got used to how heavy it is. I raised it up to shoulder height and looked at it. Ragnarok is a one handed gun but very powerful. It tracks heat signatures and can direct its shot through anything sheltering the target. “I personally like this one, even though I have my own guns.” I let it go and it went back to Mark.

            “Do you bond with your weapons?” He reached up for Inferno and it moved into his hand.

            “Yeah, of course, we all have our favorites. I prefer to use my powers more than an actual weapon but it’s one of those skills I use when I might need help.” I explained and leaned on the counter that lined one of the walls. “Inferno likes you.”

            “I can see that.” He said, “What does it do?”

            “Oh I wonder what Inferno could possibly do.”  I said sarcastically and waited for him to figure it out. “At least it didn’t come apart in your hand.”

            “True,” Mark reached for Sniper. “Damn it,” he said as it pulled itself apart in his hand. He let the handle go and it put itself back together.

            “Looks like Inferno is your gun,” I concluded and walked over to take it from him. Inferno is a one handed gun but can be used with two hands. It’s mostly gray, apart from the two light blue stripes that crossed the top and bottom amplifiers that extended out passed the barrel and connected to a spot a few millimeters back from the end of the barrel then moved down to the back of the power core structure. Its power core build took up most of the gun. A few gauges and a control panel were on one side. A tucked away lever was on the other side. I put it on the counter and opened up the control panel. I rewired it to activate it and then grabbed Mark’s hand. “Put your thumb on that glass square.”  

            He did so and it lit up green. “What’s it doing?”

            “Identifying and storing your thumbprint so only you can use it,” I explained. “It’ll activate the electro field and only allow you to hold it.”

            “That’s cool.” He stood behind me and watched it charge up.

            The counter opened up and I put it in. “Now to keep it here until you come back,” I turned around and faced him.

“I don’t get to try it out?” He asked softly, watching the counter close up then looked down at me.

            “It’s not safe,” I told him as I felt my back throb from a small spot between my wing bases. Great. It didn’t hurt after that, though. It usually does.

 I took a breath and turned around, “You don’t know how to control your powers and we have no idea what your limits are.”

            He looked down at me even though there’s only a few inches between us.

            “I think I know what my limits are,” he teased and put his hands on my shoulders, his thumbs rested on my neck.  

            _“What are you doing?!”_ Inner Demon shouted at me as I moved one hand to his wrist. _“He isn’t safe to be around!”_

            His warning echoed in my head and distracted me. I jumped when the door to the Armory opened up. I pushed Mark away and looked at the agent.

            He gave me the most suspicious look before I looked away, “Did you at least give him a weapon first?” He laughed and walked over to the shot guns. He ran his hand over a few.

            “Don’t you have a new Apprentice to arm, Dumstrang?” I snapped and watched him pick a few and an over the shoulder holster. He tucked the barrels into where they fit and held the straps.  

            He cocked the one still in his hand, “I do, actually, Hawk. Thanks for asking.” the gun started warming up.

            “Are you sure he can handle a level ten?” I asked, noticing the red sticker on the handle. “That’s usually for more advanced training.”

            He walked over to me, making the floor shake. He towered over me and his face leveled with mine. His gray reptilian skin stood out against his dark red uniform. Dark gray eyes looked into mine. “Train your own Apprentices and I’ll train mine, Chief.” He stepped back and smiled. “Seriously though, you gave him a gun first right?”

            “Yes I did, Dumstrang.” I answered, “It’s in the system but inactive.”

            “Dormant?” He asked.

            I nodded, “I’ll brief you later.” I said as he started leaving.

            “Good luck.” He called back and the door shut behind him.


	12. Visual Log Entry Part 12

Mark looked at me and didn’t have to ask his question. “That’s Dumstrang. He’s the General of our Battle Strategy division. He’s also one of our newer senior officers and eventually he’ll have a better title.”

            “What did he think we were doing?” He asked and was hoping for a genuine answer, which I wish I could give him.

            “Flirting.” I answered and turned from him. “I’m difficult to be with so they joke about it.”

            _Hawk_

            I walked over to the swords and picked up one of the larger ones. I started reminiscing on my past and it hit me harder than it has before. “It’s sad really, how they treat it.” I looked at him. “They mean well and are really trying to cheer me up, but…” I stopped and put the sword down. “It never works. If I didn’t surround myself with friends before…” I took a deep breath. “I don’t know where I would be right now.”

            _Yes you do._

 “Malchior has been a really, really great friend in all this. His wife too, Kenorfka, but she’s pregnant a lot and I haven’t gotten the chance to really talk to her.”

_Stop speaking to him about this._

            He walked over to me and hugged me. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t have to speak though. It’s all something I need to leave alone. _But you can’t, you know that._ He won’t come back. _He might._ He. Wont. Come. Back. _Alright. I’ll respect your conclusion but for your sake, I’ll keep saying that he will._

            I smiled and breathed in and breathed out. He needs to not smell so good. My heightened senses don’t help at all. I backed away from him, “Thanks, I’ll be okay though.”

            “Are you sure?” He asked, “Because I can stay here instead of going back to earth…”

            I looked at him and laughed. “You just want to be in space.”

            He laughed, “Yeah that too.”

            I pulled out my ATG4 prototype phone and looked at the ISF archives. “Oh! One more stop and then I take you home.”

            “Where are we going now?” he asked as he followed me. The lights shut off and the door shut behind us. He followed me down the hall to a few doors down. “What’s this?”

            I didn’t open the door yet. “My personal archived collection of customized weapons.” I put my hand on the pad and the doors opened. I turned on the lights. “I prefer to keep it a bit out dated.” The lights warmed up and turned on section by section to reveal a long hallway of guitars on display.

            “Guitars?” He questioned and looked at one.

            “I built them all and each does something different, besides play music.”

            “Can I play one?” He asked, wandering over to one. His wings perked up when he touched the neck of the lightning designed purple one. He left finger prints on the glass neck when he strummed the strings. Its sound echoed in the hall.

            “Do you know how?” I asked him as I picked up an all black one. I put the strap over my neck and let it hang on me.

            “Kind of,” He answered, “I mean, I can kind of read music…”

            I picked up my guitar and felt the electricity flow through me. I strummed and let the notes ring through the room. “It’s not about reading music and following notes.” I plucked at the strings with my claws and formed a tune that he may or may not recognize. “You have to feel it.” I played it more and he listened to it.

            I paused and let it trail off. “It’s not something your powers would be able to give you. You either have it or not. The transformation only amplifies this ability.” I picked up a silver one and handed it to him. “Let’s see if you have it.”

            “Cool,” he commented as he put it on him. He struggled with getting the strap over his wing and turned for me to help him.

            “Close your wings and it’ll be easier.” I told him as I folded it against his back. “Like that.”

            He turned back around and played a few notes. They were beginner notes.

            “Explore your talent, if it’s there.” I laughed, returning to where I left off in the song.

            “Well you’re the one over there playing the intro to some rock song!” he shouted over the music. “I can’t do that!”

            “Rock You Like A Hurricane!” I yelled, tapping my foot to the beat of the song. I hadn’t played in so long and it was difficult for me not to get into it. I moved my head along with the beat. I just enjoyed playing the guitar part of the song. I rolled right into holding the guitar flat in front of me. I tapped the air above the strings on the body and did so until I heard the tune to another song. “This is an old talent as well but it mimics playing a piano using electricity powers I haven’t accessed for a while.” After a few notes I held up the guitar with the few bolts I could create and waited for it to strengthen. I tapped away until then.  

            When too much time passed, I stopped, “Well, that was disappointing. I need more practice.” I held onto the neck and looked at him. “Try to play.”

            He looked uncertain as he looked at the guitar and tried. I smiled when I knew it wasn’t going to happen.

            “Even if you can’t play, these make great weapons.”

            “How?” He asked, pulling the strap back over him. “Whacking someone on the head?”

            “Keep that in front of you and I’ll show you.” I told him. He held it in place and I changed the setting on mine to ‘attack’. I strummed a string of notes and the sound waves were visible. They expanded as they moved across the air and hit the wall, bounced off it and hit a few more things. The guitar Mark held created a barrier to protect him from the sound waves. 

            “Sound waves are a great tool. Not only does it let you play a cool battle song, but it actually does a lot of damage when played right.” I explained, taking off the strap and putting it back into place. I took the one from Mark and put it back. “The one I had was actually my main weapon in the beginning of my Apprenticeship.”

            “Doesn’t everyone go through some sort of rock phase?” He asked.

            “I didn’t fully get out of it,” I answered and gestured to the rest of the room. “I used it to tap into and refine my technology abilities. It opened up the basics to Electricity but that was it for a long time.” As I kept my hand up I let electricity form in my hand. “But now it also allows me to amplify any of the powers I use. My eyes turn the color of whatever power I use for that and adding electricity to it…” I opened my hand and a symphony of guitar notes rang through the hall.

            “Amplifies that particular power…” he finished my statement and looked around at all the active guitar sound waves. His gaze landed on one in particular. “Why is that one tied down?” he pointed at the stand at the end of the hall, off in the corner. The light had been shut off.

            “It’s… Kind of a bad one,” I explained, walking over to it. “It’s an experiment gone wrong. The experimental power source I used in it wasn’t compatible with the rest of the guitar’s circuits. But since then we’ve refined it and perfected it.” I put my hand on the neck, “But I can’t find myself to come back and fix it.” I pulled my hand away and left it in its dark corner.

 I shifted my vest so I could tuck my wings away and then tightened it under my chest.  

            “Time to go home?” He asked and pulled me into his arms when I tried to pass him.

            “Yeah,” I answered, putting a hand on his arm and then pulled away. “But I am giving you a choice to stay here or go back.” I smiled, “My lieutenant thinks I should give you a choice in that instead of just telling you where to go.”

            “But I’m here because you brought me here, changed me and gave me an opportunity that would have never happened if I didn’t almost get kidnapped by aliens.” He commented. He sounded confused. “It all moved really quickly and I didn’t exactly get a lot of time to think about it.”

             “It’s part of the free will that you have as a person. We can’t take that away from you, it’s immoral. It’s one of the things that keep the new guys from becoming just another soldier.” I explained, “We don’t have armies, if you haven’t noticed. We have small numbers of super intelligent or super powerful individuals of different species who have come into this life in space to make the universe a better and safer place.” I led him out of the Armory and shut off the lights. I heard the door shut behind us and I led him to the Observation Deck.


	13. Visual Log Entry Part 13

He was silent until we got to the all window Observation Deck. The faint light in the room was coming in from space. That design helps with the entire experience. “I helped design this deck to go to the most uninterrupted view of deep space. Since we are always in motion, this room had to move too.” I stood still and watched him look out into the wonders of the universe. A huge smile formed on his face as he pointed out far off galaxies and space ships docking in the docking bay off to the side.

            “Should I leave this behind?” He asked after a few moments of silence. His breath fogged up the window.

            “This life isn’t all powers and galaxies you know. It’s about fighting for what’s right and constantly fighting against those who seek to take all the good from the universe. The new threat isn’t at full power yet, but that’s all we know.” I explained. “But there will be a war. That’s the all too real truth.”

            He turned to me.

            “A space war isn’t what it is in movies like Star Trek or Star Wars. It’s so much worse. Especially when you’re always the strongest one on the frontlines,” My voice turned harsh and memories flooded back. “You make friends in this place. You get close to people that aren’t your own species. You train your ass off to even qualify as someone who could go out and fight but even after you pass the test not all of your friends make it. And no one is prepared for when the threat is real and it isn’t just a training exercise.” I walked to the window. “I’m a harsh person because I’ve seen too many people die. My place in this universe is to protect those around me from those who fight what we live for. It’s a voluntary thing because the risk of death is too great to simply draft from those in the Alliance.”

            “And you only accept the strongest?” He asked.

            “Yes, they need to be more powerful than the one next to them. It’s always a competition. But that competition will keep them alive in a war more powerful than all of them put together.” I looked out into space. “It’s a cold harsh environment when there’s a constant looming threat of being killed.” I smiled, “I was trained outside of all that. I was given the best training and I always had the upper hand. I faced my first war when I was fourteen and it hasn’t stopped since then.”

            “What’s your upper hand besides that?” He asked, “Can’t die?”  

            “Yeah, something like that,” I answered. “I’m the current Heroine of the Heroine cycle. My past lives guide me a lot of the time but I usually only use their power to enhance mine. My Predecessor died before I was chosen. I’m also the first human of the cycle. It’s been a huge experiment really.”

            “That’s a bit fucked up.” He replied.

            “If I had rejected the change, the cycle would have stopped and the universe would have died at the hands of the Vulkars.” I stopped and realized I was getting too deep. “I… shouldn’t have said that.”

            “Who are they?” He asked and turned to me.

            “When you are Initiated and Activated later in your life you will know of that history.” I had to stop talking.

            “It’s not all fun and games,” he recapped. “But I do want to be a part of this. To be a part of something bigger than myself… to be significant to the world would be the best thing I could do with my life.”

            “But you are, and you have been.” I replied. “You are a YouTuber who helps people relearn what happiness is and you need to be that person people can turn to until we need you to be here.” I paused, “But it is your choice.” 

“I’ll regret going back home, leaving space behind.” He replied finally, “But, you’re right, I have a job to do on Earth before I can actually leave forever.”

            I smiled and turned to space, “Your life span will be extended much farther than a typical human life span. You’ll be able to visit Earth and those you love as much as you want, after your officially one of us. But once they die, you’ll be here in space.”

            “How much longer would I live?” He asked, joining me.

            “The archives say humans who join the ISF have a lower life expectancy due to just having a human pre-life. But each human who has passed away usually lived to be at least three hundred earth years old.” I recalled from my research done years ago.

            “That’s a long time,” He commented. “How about you? How long will you live?”

 I laughed softly. “I’ll probably retire in a couple hundred earth years and live the rest of my days here. I’d still be useful but I couldn’t return to Earth.”

            “Why couldn’t you return?” he asked, “No one would be alive?”  

            “That’s most of it. But after a certain time frame goes by in one environment, such as here in space, going back to Earth would probably kill me. I’d get used to the artifical gravity and the over-purified air and not living in a human society so going back would be really bad for me. Staying here would be much better. I’d be able to qualify as the first Earth representative in the Alliance Council…” I trailed off just thinking about it. “…Of course that can happen if I don’t die in war or something.”

            “Well,” He wrapped his arm around me. “I’ll be here as long as I can be.”

            “Me too, Mark. Me too,” I replied and I turned to him. “Thanks for letting me talk to you,”

            “You’re welcome,” he replied and looked down at me.

            “You’ll always have a spot here in the ISF, Mark Fischbach,” I said firmly, knowing what I had to do in the next few seconds.

            “Thanks, Hawk.” He smiled and looked out at space.  

            “I’ll let you keep a few memories, Mark.” I whispered and watched his happy face for the last time, “Even though I’m not supposed to.”

            “Wait what?” He jumped.

            I put my hands on his face as he tried to move away from me, putting his hand on my wrist. I moved him down to my face. I kissed his forehead and blocked everything with a wave of white and green energy that circled around him.


	14. Visual Log Entry Part 14

His eyes closed and he fell towards me. I caught him and knew for sure the he was unconscious by all the weight I had to hold up. The energies put his wings away and sealed up the scars, making them disappear. His heart rate calmed down as it returned to its usual human heart rate. Everything returned to how it was before. I hugged him to me as he slept.

            “Well it’s about damn time. I thought you two would never shut up.” Malchior said as he walked in. The six foot tall pale orange agent walked in. His black hair was tied back. He was probably on his way out for a mission. He stopped in front of me, his dark blue eyes looking down at me, “He makes you happy doesn’t he? I haven’t seen you show that much emotion in ages.”

            “Yeah, but he has to return to Earth now.” I said as Malchior helped me rearrange him into bridal style in my arms, his head rested on my shoulder. He put Mark’s hands together on his torso and put his white shirt and glasses on his hands. I carried him properly this time and backed away from the windows.

            “What memories did you let him keep?” He asked, following me to the middle of the room.

            “I let him keep the basics and space.” I answered as I opened a portal behind me.

            “Like?” His dark blue eyes landed on me.

            “Wings, and me, of course, and I had to block everything else. If he remembers it all, it’ll be as if it was all a dream.”

            “That’s it?” Malchior asked.

            “Yes,” I answered. “He’ll be okay with just that.”

            “Alright, you better go though, before he wakes up.” Malchior advised.

            I looked at him, “He’ll wake up after I leave him in his bed.” I said as I stepped back. The portal closed in front of me and in the middle of the portal I turned around before it opened up again in his apartment. I stepped out and breathed in. I let the gravity sink in and Mark’s unconscious body got heavy.

            I walked up the spiral staircase and found his room. I levitated him into his bed and put the covers over him. His glasses levitated onto his nightstand. It was mid day and I expected him to wake up soon. The plushie floated in from downstairs and nudged his way in between Mark’s arms. I walked over to Mark and put my thumb on his right temple and manipulated his dream a bit.

            I closed my eyes to watch it change. It turned from an all black unconscious dream to a space filled, unrealistic flight through it. It was mostly his doing, by the way. We were flying through space with our wings and soaring through the different things he had so much curiosity about. Like Eve and Wall-e in that movie.

            I pulled my hand away, smiled and left him asleep in his human life. I walked out his bedroom door and jumped from the staircase, through a portal and dropped from the ceiling of the lunch room of the Earth quarters on HQ. I sat in one of the chairs and put my head in my hands. Someone sat next to me and waited for me to look up.

            “So he’s gone?” Zorka asked me. Malchior sat next to her.

            “Yes, for now.” I answered.

            “Hopefully someone else can make you smile like that again, and hopefully it’s not Mark when he returns.”

            Zorka turned to Malchior, “We all know damn well you know who won’t ever fucking return because he’s a treacherous ass who doesn’t deserve Hawk anyway.”

            I smiled. That actually made me smile. I put my arms down and looked at my friends. I watched them argue about this particular thing for a while. It’s nice to have friends that aren’t human. But, truthfully, all I could think of was how happy Mark made me feel.

            I felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked up to see the captain there. “Kietzke?”

            He leaned down to my ear, “Next time you let Zorka record a Transformation, you should make sure she doesn’t upload something he’ll see.”

            His skin reflected out reflective technology lines that intricately traced across his neck and up his face. They pulse a pale red color, like a heartbeat. He’s a Techtite and knows everything about every technology on this ship. He pilots HQ and a few ships when sent out on a mission. He also sees Archived information right when it’s posted.

            A small tablet rose from his forearm as he put it in front of me and showed me the same thing Zorka showed me. I looked at her and saw how dark her face had gotten. She hid behind Malchior.

            “Thank you Kietzke,” I replied. “Try to put that in a private file so not everyone can see the new recruit’s crotch. I know the armory and uniform sectors will be looking at his file soon. 

            “Yes Ma’am,” he answered and pulled it away from my face and did what I told him to do. “Now it’s on private so it doesn’t matter.” He slowly walked away.

            “Stop watching it!” I yelled at him, making him jump and walk faster. I laughed again, “You guys really know how to keep me smiling.”

            Malchior smiled, “Yes we do, Hawk. We’ve known you for over a decade so why wouldn’t we?”

            “And we’re still your friends, even through all the bullshit.” Zorka chimed in and started laughing.

            I did too, knowing what she was talking about. I looked at Malchior, “hey, don’t you have a mission to go on?”

            He stopped and looked at me with wide eyes. he jumped out of his chair, “Shit! Thanks Hawk!” he called back as he ran towards the elevator.

            Zorka laughed as he left and I chuckled. I thought how nice this ending was to events that would no doubt change everything forever.

**End visual log: Hawk: 201.4625**


	15. POV Mark: Third Person

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The segments with the { } around them is additional thoughts from an agent of the ISF that isn't Hawk but has access to all Visual Log entries and can edit them. This agent is unnamed and not in the rest of the story.

Mark jumped from his bed and looked at the clock. “3PM?? What the hell? I actually got up this morning!” He put on his glasses and went down stairs. He heard his computer was already on, just asleep. He tapped on the keyboard and sat down. He waited for it to wake up and saw that he had recorded about ten minutes of a game before it stopped. He put on the headphones that had somehow fallen to the floor. The end of the cord pointed out the door. He thought nothing of it and watched what he had already recorded.

            “How do I not remember this?” He asked himself when it ended. He put his head on his hands.   Then it all came back. Well, the things that Hawk had let him remember.

            “Oh right,” Mark took off his headphones and set them down and slowly turned around in his chair. “That happened.” He remembered bits and pieces though. “I was in space with someone who worked in space… Hawk… that’s right. That’s her name.”

            {How’s that for intelligence? Thinking through the memory block and all that.}

            He got up and went to the kitchen and opened the fridge. The cool air jolted another memory. “I was changed… I had wings…” He felt for the scars but they weren’t there. “Did I have wings?” The fan in the computer started up as the system waited for him to come back. Another memory, “the gun chooses the soldier…?”

            {This human is going to be one hell of an agent when he’s fully trained.}

            Mark was so confused but felt that it had happened. He wished he could have remembered it. Like what the black creatures were in that video and why they wanted him. But he remembered her laugh, Hawk’s laugh. He remembered that she told him he’d always have a place at the… whatever it is. But then he couldn’t remember anything else, except waking up in his bed.

            {This is why we have Enoar erase memories. She knows what she’s doing.}

            He decided to get on with his life and if it was actually really important, it would come back.


	16. POV: Hawk: First Person

“Well that was the longest visual log I think I’ve ever put in here,” I archived what had happened, which is putting your hands on a white orb connected to the wall of the Interlink room and remember everything that happened. The system pulls your memories as you remember them. These visual logs are often turned into written transcript of the event if a visual cannot be transferred.

I leaned back in the chair and decided to check up on him. I held up my arm and tapped on the screen that rose up. It connected to the link on the plate on the floor.

            The infrared signal I was getting showed all was normal. I put my arm down, the screen returned to my arm and made it look normal.

            “We’ll see each other again soon, Mark.” I whispered and got up. I had another place to be. I left the room, the door shutting behind me, and walked down the halls of HQ.

            A few minutes later I leaned on the doorway of the hospital wing’s recovery room and watched Malchior and Kenorfka celebrate the arrival of their first son. He was already a few Destrehan days old which works with the rest of the time frame of the ISF. Their daughters sat on the bed with Kenorfka and looked at their brother. Malchior held their youngest daughter in his arms. She reached out for the newborn.

            I thought about the future they would have and smiled at how good it will be, for all of us.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the novel series this is attached to, Malchior and Kenorfka aren't married until the fourth book. So, them having kids is important to the series, not so much this, but it happened.


End file.
